Multi-event type monitoring and searching

• US 8,601,494 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2008
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated, ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, Lisa M., Hampapur, Arun, Senior, Andrew W., Shu, Chiao-Fe, Zhai, Yun
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Andy
• Assistant Examiner(s): DORAIS, CRAIG C
• Application Number:
  US12/013,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20090183177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,150 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Multiple event types are monitored for events, and surveillance data is stored for each event. Surveillance data for a primary event of one event type can be presented to a user, and surveillance data for a set of related events corresponding to another event type can be presented based on a set of relatedness criteria and the surveillance data for the primary event. A user can adjust the relatedness criteria to filter/adjust the surveillance data presented for the related event(s). A user interface can enable the user to simultaneously view the surveillance data for both events and adjust the relatedness criteria. In an illustrative application, the invention is utilized to detect fraudulent merchandise returns in a retail store.

Claims

1. A method of presenting surveillance data for an area, the method comprising:

receiving sensor data and transaction data for a retail store on a computer system including at least one computing device, the transaction data including data on at least one point of sale (POS) event;

associating at least some of the sensor data with each of the at least one POS events using the computer system;

storing the transaction data and associated sensor data as surveillance data for the POS event using the computer system;

providing primary surveillance data for a set of primary events corresponding to one of a plurality of monitored event types for display to a user in a user interface using the computer system, wherein each of the plurality of monitored event types corresponds to a human action occurring within the area;

obtaining a selected event identified by the user using the user interface from the set of primary events and a corresponding set of relatedness criteria on the computer system in response to the providing, wherein the set of relatedness criteria defines a set of attributes of surveillance data indicating an event may be related to the selected event;

identifying a set of related events corresponding to another one of the plurality of monitored event types based on the surveillance data for the selected event and the set of relatedness criteria using the computer system in response to the obtaining; and

providing related surveillance data for each related event for display to the user in the user interface using the computer system in response to the identifying, wherein the user interface includes a first display area for displaying the primary surveillance data and a second display area distinct from the first display area for concurrently displaying the related surveillance data with the primary surveillance data,

wherein the set of primary events include merchandise returns at the retail store and the set of related events include customer entrances to the retail store.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the related surveillance data includes image data, the method further comprising:

obtaining a visual feature; and

filtering the related surveillance data for the set of related events based on the visual feature and the image data.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a set of related image sources; and

adjusting the related surveillance data for the set of related events to only include related surveillance data acquired by the set of related image sources.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the surveillance data for the set of primary events only includes surveillance data acquired by a designated subset of a plurality of primary sensors.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a transaction user interface for displaying transaction data corresponding to the set of primary events and enabling the user to request to view image data corresponding to at least one of the set of primary events; and

providing the transaction user interface for presentation to the user.

6. A computer system comprising:

a set of computing devices for presenting surveillance data for an area by performing a method comprising;

receiving sensor data and transaction data for a retail store, the transaction data including data on at least one point of sale (POS) event;

associating at least some of the sensor data with each of the at least one POS events;

storing the transaction data and associated sensor data as surveillance data for the POS event;

providing primary surveillance data for a set of primary events corresponding to one of a plurality of monitored event types for display to a user in a user interface, wherein each of the plurality of monitored event types corresponds to a human action occurring within the area;

obtaining a selected event identified by the user using the user interface from the set of primary events and a corresponding set of relatedness criteria in response to the providing, wherein the set of relatedness criteria defines a set of attributes of surveillance data indicating an event may be related to the selected event;

identifying a set of related events corresponding to another one of the plurality of monitored event types based on the surveillance data for the selected event and the set of relatedness criteria in response to the obtaining; and

providing related surveillance data for each related event for display to the user in the user interface in response to the identifying, wherein the user interface includes a first display area for displaying the primary surveillance data and a second display area distinct from the first display area for concurrently displaying the related surveillance data with the primary surveillance data,

wherein the set of primary events include merchandise returns at the retail store and the set of related events include customer entrances to the retail store.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the related surveillance data includes image data, the method further comprising:

obtaining a visual feature; and

filtering the related surveillance data for the set of related events based on the visual feature and the image data.

8. The system of claim 6, the method further comprising:

obtaining a set of related image sources; and

adjusting the related surveillance data for the set of related events to only include related surveillance data acquired by the set of related image sources.

9. The system of claim 6, the method further comprising:

generating a transaction user interface for displaying transaction data corresponding to the set of primary events and enabling the user to request to view image data corresponding to at least one of the set of primary events; and

providing the transaction user interface for presentation to the user.

10. A computer program comprising program code stored on a computer-readable device, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement a method of presenting surveillance data for an area, the method comprising:

receiving sensor data and transaction data for a retail store, the transaction data including data on at least one point of sale (POS) event;

associating at least some of the sensor data with each of the at least one POS events;

storing the transaction data and associated sensor data as surveillance data for the POS event;

providing primary surveillance data for a set of primary events corresponding to one of a plurality of monitored event types for display to a user in a user interface, wherein each of the plurality of monitored event types corresponds to a human action occurring within the area;

obtaining a selected event identified by the user using the user interface from the set of primary events and a corresponding set of relatedness criteria in response to the providing, wherein the set of relatedness criteria defines a set of attributes of surveillance data indicating an event may be related to the selected event;

identifying a set of related events corresponding to another one of the plurality of monitored event types based on the surveillance data for the selected event and the set of relatedness criteria in response to the obtaining; and

providing related surveillance data for each related event for display to the user in the user interface in response to the identifying, wherein the user interface includes a first display area for displaying the primary surveillance data and a second display area distinct from the first display area for concurrently displaying the related surveillance data with the primary surveillance data,

wherein the set of primary events include merchandise returns at the retail store and the set of related events include customer entrances to the retail store.

11. The computer program of claim 10, wherein the related surveillance data includes image data, the method further comprising:

obtaining a visual feature; and

filtering the related surveillance data for the set of related events based on the visual feature and the image data.

12. The computer program of claim 10, the method further comprising:

obtaining a set of related image sources; and

adjusting the related surveillance data for the set of related events to only include related surveillance data acquired by the set of related image sources.

13. The computer program of claim 10, the method further comprising:

generating a transaction user interface for displaying transaction data corresponding to the set of primary events and enabling the user to request to view image data corresponding to at least one of the set of primary events; and

providing the transaction user interface for presentation to the user.

14. A method of generating a system for presenting surveillance data for an area, the method comprising:

providing a computer system including at least one computing device, wherein the computer system is operable to;

receive sensor data and transaction data for a retail store, the transaction data including data on at least one point of sale (POS) event;

associate at least some of the sensor data with each of the at least one POS events;

store the transaction data and associated sensor data as surveillance data for the POS event;

provide primary surveillance data for a set of primary events corresponding to one of a plurality of monitored event types for display to a user in a user interface, wherein each of the plurality of monitored event types corresponds to a human action occurring within the area;

obtain a selected event identified by the user using the user interface from the set of primary events and a corresponding set of relatedness criteria in response to the providing, wherein the set of relatedness criteria defines a set of attributes of surveillance data indicating an event may be related to the selected event;

identify a set of related events corresponding to another one of the plurality of monitored event types based on the surveillance data for the selected event and the set of relatedness criteria in response to the obtaining; and

provide related surveillance data for each related event for display to the user in the user interface in response to the identifying, wherein the user interface includes a first display area for displaying the primary surveillance data and a second display area distinct from the first display area for concurrently displaying the related surveillance data with the primary surveillance data,

wherein the set of primary events include merchandise returns at the retail store and the set of related events include customer entrances to the retail store.