Systems and methods to optimize media presentations using a camera

• US 9,760,905 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2011
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Alvin L
• Application Number:
  US13/195,832
• Publication Number:
  US 20120030006A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,234 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14
• 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:

providing a computing apparatus including;

a transaction handler configured to generate transaction data from processing payment transactions for at least one transaction terminal at a retail location,

a data warehouse coupled with the transaction handler, the data warehouse configured to store the transaction data,

a media controller coupled with the data warehouse, the media controller configured to select and send content to a point of interaction associated with the retail location, and

a communication portal to receive user data from a user tracker, the user tracker configured to process images from at least one first digital camera and generate the user data, the at least one first digital camera configured to obtain image data, and the at least one first digital camera attached to the point of interaction;

storing, by the data warehouse, the transaction data;

receiving, by the communication portal, from the user tracker, first images of customers from the at least one first digital camera;

identifying, by the computing apparatus, a characteristic of a plurality of customers based on the first images of the customers;

receiving, by the communication portal, from at least one second digital camera, second images of customers, including a first customer using a first computing device, who make payment transactions at the retail location, the at least one second digital camera attached to a transaction terminal at the retail location;

identifying, by the computing apparatus, a subset of customers from the plurality of customers who make payment transactions at the retail location and who have the identified characteristic, the identifying comprising correlating the first images and the second images to identify the subset of customers based on facial recognition, wherein customers who do not make a payment transaction at the retail location within a predetermined period of time are excluded from the subset of customers;

generating, by the computing apparatus, an aggregated spending profile for the subset of customers based on transactions of the subset of customers, the generating based on the transaction data stored in the data warehouse, and further based on the user data received from the user tracker;

modifying, by the media controller, content for sending to the point of interaction as controlled by the aggregated spending profile of the subset of customers;

sending, by the communication portal, the modified content to the point of interaction to cause display of the modified content on the point of interaction;

generating, by the media controller, an electronic file;

transmitting, by the communication portal, a communication to the first computing device of the first customer, the communication to cause display of the electronic file in a user interface of the first computing device, the communication sent by a first communications network;

receiving, by the transaction handler, an authorization request from a first transaction terminal of the at least one transaction terminal for a transaction made by the first computing device using the electronic file, the authorization request sent using a second communications network that is different from the first communications network; and

sending, by the transaction handler, a communication to the first transaction terminal, the communication to cause approval of the transaction with the first computing device.

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

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

measuring, from a first image for a respective customer from the plurality of customers, a length of time during which the respective customer is facing the digital sign; and

determining, based on the length of time the respective customer is facing the digital sign, whether the respective customer is watching the digital sign.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the respective customer is determined to be watching the digital sign when the length of time the respective customer faces the digital sign is longer than a predetermined threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic includes one or more of:

gender or age.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the subset of customers further includes sampling accounts based on a distribution of the characteristic in the plurality of customers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the subset of customers further comprises excluding customers whose accounts have fewer than a predetermined number of transaction activities at the retail location within a second predetermined period of time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is identified from the first images without individually identifying any of the plurality of customers.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a plurality of characteristics of the plurality of customers based on the first images.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the plurality of characteristics includes identifying a predominant characteristic from the plurality of characteristics, wherein each of the customers in the subset of customers have the predominant characteristic.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the subset of customers includes identifying a ratio of the plurality of characteristics of the plurality of customers.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the aggregated spending profile for the subset of customers includes assigning a first weight to a first characteristic from the plurality of characteristics and assigning a second weight to a second characteristic from the plurality of characteristics, wherein the first weight is greater than the second weight.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a first customer from the subset of customers has the first characteristic and a second customer from the subset of customers has the second characteristic, and wherein spending of the first customer has greater influence in generating the spending profile than spending of the second customer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first weight and the second weight are applied based on a ratio of a number of customers that make payment transactions at the retail location in comparison to a number of customers for whom a first image is captured at the point of interaction.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first characteristic includes a first age group, and the second characteristic includes a second age group.

18. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying the subset of customers includes:

identifying a first set of customers from the plurality of customers based on a first characteristic;

identifying a second set of customers from the plurality of customers based on a second characteristic; and

combining the first set of customers and the second set of customers to form the subset of customers from the plurality of customers.

8. A tangible, non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing apparatus, cause the computing apparatus to:

store, by a data warehouse, transaction data, the data warehouse coupled with a transaction handler, the data warehouse configured to store the transaction data, and the transaction handler configured to generate transaction data from processing payment transactions for at least one transaction terminal at a retail location;

receive, by a communication portal, from a user tracker, first images of customers from at least one first digital camera in communication with the computing apparatus, wherein the at least one first digital camera is attached to a point of interaction associated with the retail location, the communication portal to receive user data from the user tracker, the user tracker configured to process images from the at least one first digital camera and generate the user data, and the at least one first digital camera configured to obtain image data;

identify a characteristic of a plurality of customers based on the first images of the customers;

receive, by the communication portal, from at least one second digital camera, second images of customers, including a first customer using a first computing device, who make payment transactions at the retail location, the at least one second digital camera attached to a transaction terminal at the retail location;

identify a subset of customers from the plurality of customers who make payment transactions at the retail location and who have the identified characteristic, the identifying comprising correlating the first images and the second images to identify the subset of customers based on facial recognition, wherein customers who do not make a payment transaction at the retail location within a predetermined period of time are excluded from the subset of customers;

generate an aggregated spending profile for the subset of customers based on transactions of the subset of customers, the generating based on the transaction data stored in the data warehouse, and further based on the user data received from the user tracker;

modify, by a media controller, content for sending to the point of interaction as controlled by the aggregated spending profile of the subset of customers, the media controller coupled with the data warehouse, and the media controller configured to select and send content to the point of interaction;

send, by the communication portal, the modified content to the point of interaction to cause display of the modified content on the point of interaction;

generate, by the media controller, an electronic file;

transmit, by the communication portal, a communication to the first computing device of the first customer, the communication to cause display of the electronic file in a user interface of the first computing device, the communication sent by a first communications network;

receive, by the transaction handler, an authorization request from a first transaction terminal of the at least one transaction terminal for a transaction made by the first computing device using the electronic file, the authorization request sent using a second communications network that is different from the first communications network; and

send, by the transaction handler, a communication to the first transaction terminal, the communication to cause approval of the transaction with the first computing device.

9. A computing apparatus, comprising:

a transaction handler configured to generate transaction data from processing payment transactions for at least one transaction terminal at a retail location;

a data warehouse coupled with the transaction handler, the data warehouse configured to store the transaction data;

a media controller coupled with the data warehouse, the media controller configured to select and send content to a point of interaction associated with the retail location;

a communication portal to receive user data from a user tracker, the user tracker configured to process images from at least one first digital camera and generate the user data, the at least one first digital camera configured to obtain image data, and the at least one first digital camera attached to the point of interaction;

at least one processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing apparatus to;

store, by the data warehouse, the transaction data;

receive, by the communication portal, from the user tracker, first images of customers from the at least one first digital camera;

identify a characteristic of a plurality of customers based on the first images of the customers;

receive, by the communication portal, from at least one second digital camera, second images of customers, including a first customer using a first computing device, who make payment transactions at the retail location, the at least one second digital camera attached to a transaction terminal at the retail location;

identify a subset of customers from the plurality of customers who make payment transactions at the retail location and who have the identified characteristic, the identifying comprising correlating the first images and the second images to identify the subset of customers based on facial recognition, wherein customers who do not make a payment transaction at the retail location within a predetermined period of time are excluded from the subset of customers;

generate an aggregated spending profile for the subset of customers based on transactions of the subset of customers, the generating based on the transaction data stored in the data warehouse, and further based on the user data received from the user tracker;

modify, by the media controller, content for sending to the point of interaction as controlled by the aggregated spending profile of the subset of customers;

send, by the communication portal, the modified content to the point of interaction to cause display of the modified content on the point of interaction;

generate, by the media controller, an electronic file;

transmit, by the communication portal, a communication to the first computing device of the first customer, the communication to cause display of the electronic file in a user interface of the first computing device, the communication sent by a first communications network;

receive, by the transaction handler, an authorization request from a first transaction terminal of the at least one transaction terminal for a transaction made by the first computing device using the electronic file, the authorization request sent using a second communications network that is different from the first communications network; and

send, by the transaction handler, a communication to the first transaction terminal, the communication to cause approval of the transaction with the first computing device.