Systems and Methods to Optimize Media Presentations using a Camera

• US 20120030006A1
• Filed: 08/01/2011
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yoder, Jeanette, Byce, Charles Raymond, Winters, Michelle Eng
• Granted Patent: US 9,760,905 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

In one aspect, a computing apparatus is configured to: capture first images of customers who have watched a digital sign, using a digital camera attached to the digital sign positioned in vicinity of a retail location; identify characteristics of the customers based on the first images; identify, using the characteristics, a subset of customers who have made payment transactions at the retail location through a transaction handler; determine an aggregated spending profile based on transactions of the subset of customers recorded by the transaction handler; and arrange content on the digital sign based on the aggregated spending profile. The computing apparatus may be further configured to capture second images of the customers who have made payment transactions at the retail location through the transaction handler, using a digital camera attached to a point of sale (POS) station at the retail location, and to correlate the first and second images to identify the subset.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying, by a computing apparatus, characteristics of a plurality of customers based on first images of the customers, the first images captured using a digital camera attached to a point of interaction positioned in vicinity of a retail location;

identifying, by the computing apparatus using the characteristics, a subset of customers who have made payment transactions at the retail location, the payment transactions processed via a transaction handler; and

determining, by the computing apparatus, an aggregated spending profile based on transactions of the subset of customers recorded by the transaction handler.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the point of interaction comprises a digital sign.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving from a user tracker the first images to identify the characteristics; and

providing the aggregated spending profile to a media controller to arrange content on the digital sign.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

capturing the first images of the plurality of customers who have watched the digital sign using the digital camera.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the identifying of the characteristics comprises performing face recognition.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

measuring, from facial images of a customer captured by the digital camera, a length of a time period during which the customer is facing the digital sign; and

determining whether the customer is watching the digital sign based on the length of the time period, wherein the characteristics are determined from the plurality of customers who are determined to have watched the digital sign.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein when the length of the time period is shorter than a predetermined threshold, the customer is determined to not be watching the digital sign;

and when the length of the time period is longer than a predetermined threshold, the customer is determined to be watching the digital sign.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

arranging content on the digital sign using the aggregated spending profile.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

capturing second images of customers who make payment transactions at the retail location, using a digital camera attached to a point of sale (POS) station at the retail location;

wherein the identifying of the subset comprises correlating the first images and the second images to identify the subset based on face recognition.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the characteristics comprise at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of:

gender and age.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifying of the subset comprises sampling accounts based on a distribution of the attribute in the plurality of customers in accordance with the attribute of users of account identification devices associated with the accounts.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the arranging of the content comprises selecting advertisements to target customers having the characteristics.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying of the characteristics comprises receiving the characteristics.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

providing the aggregated spending profile as a response to the receiving of the characteristics.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the aggregated spending profile is generated based on aggregating spending recorded in accounts of the subset of customers.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying of the subset of customers comprises excluding customers whose accounts have fewer than a predetermined threshold of transaction activities at the retail location with a predetermined period of time.

17. A computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing apparatus to perform a method comprising:

receiving, in the computing apparatus, first images of first customers captured using a digital camera attached to a digital sign positioned in vicinity of a retail location;

determining, by the computing apparatus, characteristics of the first customers based on the first images; and

generating, by the computing apparatus and in accordance with the characteristics, an aggregated spending profile using transaction data recorded by a transaction handler for payment transactions of second customers who have made payment transactions at the retail location.

18. The computer storage medium of claim 17, wherein the characteristics include a demographic distribution of the first customers;

and the second customers are selected based on matching times of transactions of the second customers at the retail location with times of capturing of the first images, in accordance with a predetermined time period.

19. A computing apparatus, comprising:

a data warehouse configured to store transaction data recording transactions processed by a transaction handler;

a portal configured to receive user data related to first images of first customers captured using a digital camera attached to a digital sign positioned in vicinity of a retail location; and

a profile generator configured to generate, in accordance with the user data, an aggregated spending profile using the transaction data recorded by the transaction handler for payment transactions of second customers who have made payment transactions at the retail location.

20. The computing apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

an advertisement selector configured to use the aggregated spending profile to arrange advertisements presented on the digital sign.