Method and system for characterizing physical retail spaces by determining the demographic composition of people in the physical retail spaces utilizing video image analysis
First Claim
1. A method for characterizing a physical retail space based on automatic measurement of a demographic composition of a plurality of shoppers in the physical retail space, comprising the following steps of:
- a) dividing said physical retail space into a plurality of sub-regions, the sub-regions comprising at least one of aisles, entry points, exit points, or predefined areas of said physical retail space,b) capturing a plurality of input video images of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions over a specified period of time by a plurality of cameras,c) automatic measuring demographic information of each shopper in said plurality of shoppers in said plurality of input video images using a computer, said demographic information comprising age, gender and ethnicity information,d) determining statistics of said demographic information and measuring said demographic composition of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions, said demographic composition comprising categories defining entity with a group of products, a group of product types, spaces, areas or display of a group of products, ande) characterizing said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions based on said demographic measuring and said demographic statistics, said physical retail space characterization comprising at least one of the following;
a characterization of said demographic composition of shoppers in said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions;
ora characterization of said physical retail space or said retail space sub-regions by product match or media match based on said demographic composition;
ora characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions according to a media effectiveness measurement based on said demographic composition measuring; and
f) outputting, by a computer, said physical retail space characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions.
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Abstract
The present invention is a method and system for characterizing physical space based on automatic demographics measurement, using a plurality of means for capturing images and a plurality of computer vision technologies. The present invention is called demographic-based retail space characterization (DBR). Although the disclosed method is described in the context of retail space, the present invention can be applied to any physical space that has a restricted boundary. In the present invention, the physical space characterization can comprise various types of characterization depending on the objective of the physical space, and it is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide the automatic demographic composition measurement to facilitate the physical space characterization. The demographic classification and composition measurement of people in the physical space is performed automatically based on a novel usage of a plurality of means for capturing images and a plurality of computer vision technologies on the captured visual information of the people in the physical space. The plurality of computer vision technologies can comprise face detection, person tracking, body parts detection, and demographic classification of the people, on the captured visual information of the people in the physical space.
162 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for characterizing a physical retail space based on automatic measurement of a demographic composition of a plurality of shoppers in the physical retail space, comprising the following steps of:
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a) dividing said physical retail space into a plurality of sub-regions, the sub-regions comprising at least one of aisles, entry points, exit points, or predefined areas of said physical retail space, b) capturing a plurality of input video images of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions over a specified period of time by a plurality of cameras, c) automatic measuring demographic information of each shopper in said plurality of shoppers in said plurality of input video images using a computer, said demographic information comprising age, gender and ethnicity information, d) determining statistics of said demographic information and measuring said demographic composition of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions, said demographic composition comprising categories defining entity with a group of products, a group of product types, spaces, areas or display of a group of products, and e) characterizing said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions based on said demographic measuring and said demographic statistics, said physical retail space characterization comprising at least one of the following; a characterization of said demographic composition of shoppers in said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions;
ora characterization of said physical retail space or said retail space sub-regions by product match or media match based on said demographic composition;
ora characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions according to a media effectiveness measurement based on said demographic composition measuring; and f) outputting, by a computer, said physical retail space characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for characterizing a physical retail space based on automatic measurement of a demographic composition of a plurality of shoppers in the physical retail space, comprising:
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a) means for dividing said physical retail space into a plurality of sub-regions, the sub-regions comprising at least one of aisles, entry points, exit points, or predefined areas of said physical retail space, b) means for capturing a plurality of input video images of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions over a specified period of time by a plurality of means for capturing images, c) means for automatic measuring demographic information of each shopper in said plurality of shoppers in said plurality of input video images using a means for control and processing, said demographic information comprising age, gender and ethnicity information, d) means for determining statistics of said demographic information and measuring said demographic composition of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions, said demographic composition comprising categories defining entity with a group of products, a group of product types, spaces, areas or display of a group of products, and e) means for characterizing said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions based on said demographic measuring and said demographic statistics, said physical retail space characterization comprising at least one of the following; a characterization of said demographic composition of shoppers in said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions;
ora characterization of said physical retail space or said retail space sub-regions by product match or media match based on said demographic composition;
ora characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions according to a media effectiveness measurement based on said demographic composition measuring; and f) means for outputting said physical retail space characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification