Time-in store estimation using facial recognition
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring the amount of time spent in a specified area by an individual, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of entrance images from one or more cameras, each entrance image containing a face of an entering individual who passed a first location;
timestamping each entrance image with an entrance time corresponding to when the entering individual passed the first location and storing each entrance image in a database along with the corresponding entrance time;
receiving an exit image containing a face of an exiting individual who passed a second location;
timestamping the exit image with an exit time corresponding to when the exiting individual passed the second location and storing the exit image in the database along with the corresponding exit time;
identifying a matching entrance image containing the same face as the exit image by at least comparing the exit image stored in the database to the entrance images stored in the database; and
calculating a stay time for the exiting individual by at least determining the difference between the entrance time stored in the database corresponding to the matching entrance image and the exit time stored in the database corresponding to the exit image.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of monitoring the amount of time spent in a specified area by an individual comprises employing a first camera to automatically create one or more entrance images, each entrance image containing a face of an entering individual that passes a first location, and storing each entrance image in a database along with a corresponding entrance time that the entering individual passed the entrance location. An exit image is compared to the entrance images in the database to identify a matching entrance image containing the same face as the exit image. A stay time is then determined for the exiting individual by determining the difference between the entrance time corresponding to the matching entrance image and the exit time.
9 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring the amount of time spent in a specified area by an individual, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of entrance images from one or more cameras, each entrance image containing a face of an entering individual who passed a first location; timestamping each entrance image with an entrance time corresponding to when the entering individual passed the first location and storing each entrance image in a database along with the corresponding entrance time; receiving an exit image containing a face of an exiting individual who passed a second location; timestamping the exit image with an exit time corresponding to when the exiting individual passed the second location and storing the exit image in the database along with the corresponding exit time; identifying a matching entrance image containing the same face as the exit image by at least comparing the exit image stored in the database to the entrance images stored in the database; and calculating a stay time for the exiting individual by at least determining the difference between the entrance time stored in the database corresponding to the matching entrance image and the exit time stored in the database corresponding to the exit image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for monitoring time spent in a location by an individual, the system comprising:
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a first camera positioned to record images of individuals passing a first location; a first image processing module configured to; process the recorded images from the first camera using a face detection algorithm to detect faces within the recorded image; create an entrance image of each detected face; and timestamp each entrance image with an entrance time that corresponds to when an individual in the entrance image passed the first location; a database configured to receive and store each entrance image and the corresponding entrance time; a second camera positioned to record individuals passing a second location; a second image processing module configured to; process the recorded images from the second camera using a face detection algorithm to detect faces within the recorded image; create an exit image of each detected face; and timestamp the exit image with an exit time that corresponds to when an individual in the exit image passed the second location; an image matching module configured to compare the exit image stored in the database to the entrance images stored in the database using a facial recognition algorithm to identify a matching entrance image containing the same face as an exiting individual of the exit image; and a stay time calculator module configured to calculate a stay time for a matched exiting individual by determining the difference between the entrance time stored in the database corresponding to the matching entrance image and the exit time stored in the database corresponding to the exit image. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of monitoring a time-in-store for an individual, the method comprising:
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recording an image of an entrance location with a first camera; timestamping the image of the entrance location with an associated entrance time; detecting one or more faces in the image of the entrance location using a face detection algorithm; creating an entrance image of the one or more faces detected in the image of the entrance location; storing the entrance image and the entrance time together in an entrance image database; recording an image of an exit location with a second camera; timestamping the image of the exit location with an associated exit time; and detecting one or more faces in the image of the exit location using the face detection algorithm; creating an exit image of the one or more faces detected in the image of the exit location; storing the exit image and the exit time together in an exit image database; detecting a matching entrance image by at least using a facial recognition algorithm to compare the exit image stored in the exit image database to one or more exit images stored in the entrance image database, wherein the matching entrance image contains a facial match to the exit image; calculating a stay time for a matched exiting individual by at least determining the difference between the exit time stored in the database corresponding to the exit image and the entrance time stored in the database corresponding to the matching entrance image. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification