ANALYZING LAYOUTS USING SENSOR DATA

• US 20180308082A1
• Filed: 04/24/2017
• Published: 10/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bell, Bruce, Partridge, Brian, Abu-Ghaida, Ghassan, Dhingra, Amar, Bautista, Alfred, Yien, Kevin
• Granted Patent: US 10,521,784 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR

Abstract

This disclosure describes, in part, techniques for analyzing sensor data to identify a bottleneck location within a physical establishment, and then providing a recommendation based on the bottleneck location. For instance, a payment service may analyze a layout of a physical establishment using sensor data representing movements of users within the physical establishment. Based on the analysis, the payment service can identify a location within the physical establishment in which movements of the users correspond to one another. For instance, the payment service can identify that the users are located at a similar location within the physical establishment at a given time period. The payment service can then generate and provide a message that indicates a location for moving an object such that users can utilize new routes through the physical establishment.

Claims

1. One or more computing devices comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

obtaining, from a point-of-sale (POS) device associated with a merchant, first data representing a layout of a physical establishment of the merchant, the layout indicating at least;

respective locations of a plurality of tables within the physical establishment; and

respective locations of chairs within the physical establishment;

receiving, from the POS device, second data representing at least first movements of a first user within the physical establishment and second movements of a second user within the physical establishment;

analyzing the second data to identify at least a cluster location within the physical establishment at which a first location of the first user is within a threshold distance to a second location of the second user;

determining, based at least in part on the first movements, a first route of the first user within the physical establishment, the first route including at least a starting point and an ending point;

determining a second route within the physical establishment from the starting point to the ending point;

analyzing the first data to identify, from the plurality of tables, a table that is located along the second route through the physical establishment;

determining, based at least in part on the second route, an optimal location within the physical environment at which to move the table so that the second user can use the second route through the physical establishment;

providing a communication to the POS device recommending that the table be moved to the optimal location within the physical establishment;

receiving, from the POS device, an indication that the table is now located at the optimal location within the physical establishment; and

updating the first data such that the layout indicates that the table is located at the optimal location within the physical establishment.

2. The one or more computing device of claim 1, wherein receiving the second data comprises:

receiving, from a first electronic device associated with the first user, data representing the first movements of the first user; and

receiving, from a second electronic device associated with the second user, data representing the second movements of the second user.

3. The one or more computing device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the second movements, a third route of the second user within the physical establishment,

wherein analyzing the second data to identify the cluster location comprises analyzing the first route with respect to the second route to identify that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance to the cluster location.

4. The one or more computing devices of claim 1, wherein the second data further represents respective movements of a plurality of users within the physical establishment, and wherein the operations further comprising:

analyzing the second data to determine a number of times that the respective movements of the plurality of users are within the threshold distance to the cluster location within the physical establishment;

determining that the number of times exceeds a threshold; and

determining that the cluster location includes a bottleneck location within the physical establishment based at least in part on determining that the number of times exceeds the threshold.

5. The one or more computing devices of claim 1, wherein determining the optimal location comprises determining at least one geographical location for placing the table that is not located along the second route.

6. A method comprising:

receiving first data representing at least first movements of a first user within a physical establishment of a merchant;

receiving second data representing at least second movements of a second user within the physical establishment;

determining, based at least in part on the first data and the second data, a clustering location within the physical establishment, wherein the clustering location relates to a point where a first geographical location associated with the first user is within a threshold distance of a second geographical location associated with the second user;

based at least in part on determining that the first geographical location is within the threshold distance of the second geographical location;

identifying an object within the physical establishment proximate to the clustering location; and

determining an optimal geographical location for placing the object within the physical establishment that serves to increase the threshold distance between the first geographical location and second geographical location; and

providing a message suggesting that the object be placed at the optimal geographical location within the physical establishment.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

obtaining additional data representing a layout of the physical establishment, the layout indicating at least an initial geographical location of the object within the physical establishment,

wherein identifying the object comprises;

determining, based at least in part on the first data, a first route of the first user through the physical establishment, wherein the first geographical location is located along the first route;

determining, based at least in part on the second data, a second route of the second user through the physical establishment, wherein the second geographical location is located along the second route; and

determining, based at least in part on the layout, that at least one of the first route or the second route is caused at least in part by the initial geographical location of the object.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the first route includes at least a first starting point and a first ending point;

the second route includes at least a second starting point and a second ending point; and

determining that at least one of the first route or the second route is caused at least in part by the initial geographical location of the object comprises determining that the initial geographical location is between a line that connects the first starting point to the first ending point or between a line that connects the second starting point to the second ending point.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the data, a first route of the first user through the physical establishment, the first route including at least a starting point and an ending point; and

determining a second route within the physical establishment between the starting point and the ending point,

wherein identifying the object is further based on determining that an initial geographical location of the object is located along the second route.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the optimal geographical location for placing the object comprises determining at least one geographic location that is not located along the second route.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving third data representing respective movements of a plurality of users within the physical establishment;

determining, based at least in part on the third data, a number of times that respective geographical locations of the plurality of users are within the threshold distance to the clustering location; and

determining that the number of times exceeds a threshold,

wherein identifying the object is further based on determining that the number of times exceeds a threshold.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the receiving the first data comprises receiving, from a first electronic device associated with the first user, the first data representing the first movements of the first user; and

the receiving the second data comprises receiving, from a second electronic device associated with the second user, the second data representing the second movements of the second user.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving at least one of the first data or the second data comprises receiving, from one or more image capturing devices, image data representing the physical establishment.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the object includes at least one of:

a chair within the physical establishment;

a table within the physical establishment;

a television within the physical establishment;

or

an electronic device within the physical establishment.

15. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving data representing at least movements of a first user within a physical establishment;

determining, based at least in part on the data, a first route of the first user within the physical establishment;

determining that a first location located along the first route is within a threshold distance to a second location located along a second route of a second user within the physical establishment;

based at least in part on determining that the first location is within the threshold distance to the second location, determining a third location for placing an object; and

providing a message suggesting that the object be placed at the third location.

16. The system of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

determining that an initial location of the object within the threshold distance of the first location and the second location,

wherein determining the third location comprises determining at least one location within the physical establishment that increases the distance between the first location and the second location.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein determining that the first location is within the threshold distance to the second location comprises:

determining, based at least in part on the first route, that the first user is located at the first location at a specific period of time; and

determining, based at least in part on the second route, that the second user is located at the second location at the specific period of time,

wherein the first location is within the threshold distance of the second location.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein:

the first route includes a starting location and an ending location; and

the operations further comprising;

determining a third route within the physical establishment that starts the starting location, ends at the ending location, and does include the first location,

wherein the message further suggests the third route.

19. The system of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving additional data representing a layout of the physical establishment, the layout including a graphical element representing the object within the physical establishment;

analyzing the layout; and

determining that at least a portion of the object is located along at least one of the first route or the second route,

wherein determining the third location is based at least in part on determining that the at least the portion of the object is located along the at least one of the first route or the second route.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein:

receiving the data comprises receiving, from a first electronic device associated with the first user, the data representing the movements of the first user, and

the operations further comprising receiving, from a second electronic device associated with the second user, additional data representing movements of the second user.