Patents by Inventor Herb Sorensen

Herb Sorensen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230056742
    Abstract: A computerized product promotion system for use in a store is provided. The system comprises one or more processors configured to receive a plurality of captured images of a shopper in a current shopping session in the store and process the plurality of captured images to determine one or more products selected by the shopper during the current shopping session. The one or more processors are further configured to determine an identity of at least one target product, selected by a product prediction model, that is estimated to have a threshold minimum likelihood of being purchased by the shopper during a remainder of the current shopping session. The product prediction model receives as input the one or more products selected by the shopper during the current shopping session, and outputs the identity of the at least one target product.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2021
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Mark Heckman
  • Patent number: 11176602
    Abstract: An interactive transaction system is provided. A terminal, located adjacent or in proximity to a merchandise display, comprises a touch screen device, associated with the product category, configured to present a subset of products within the product category, determining the subset of products within the product category according to an algorithm that may take into account a profile of a shopper interacting with the terminal, a location of the terminal inside the physical merchant store, and products that are located in proximity to the terminal. The terminal is further configured to receive a shopper selection associated with at least one of the products in the subset of products within the product category for fulfillment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 11164197
    Abstract: A method for evaluating effective product visibility in a physical shopping environment including multiple products is provided. The method includes, in a data capture phase, counting a total number of shoppers for a period of time. For a first sample of shoppers, trip length is monitored to determine an average trip length. A second sample of shoppers is audited, and a viewing vector of audited shoppers is determined at each display visited. Displays visited are assigned at least one product category. In a following product category visibility analysis phase, from a total number of shoppers and the average trip length, the total shopping time for the physical shopping environment is calculated. The total shopping time is allocated to each viewing vector of audited shoppers to determine allocated time. From allocated time and the viewing vectors, an exposure value of the product category is determined. Non-display exposure values are also determinable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 11042887
    Abstract: Systems and methods for analyzing product exposure to one or more shoppers in a shopping environment are disclosed herein. One method may include developing a three-dimensional model of the shopping environment indicating a product location of each of a plurality of products, capturing a plurality of images of shoppers using an overhead camera, and computing an estimated field of view of each shopper captured in the plurality of images. Computer vision techniques may be used to determine a location of a facial feature in the plurality of images, determine a head pose, and then assign the estimated field of view. The method may further include, based on the three-dimensional model, computing that a product location exists within the estimated field of view for each shopper, and generating a visibility metric based on an extent to which the product location exists within each estimated field of view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 11004113
    Abstract: An electronic device for a store is provided comprising a front-facing camera, a rear-facing camera, a display, and processing circuitry configured to receive an identity of at least one target product that meets one or more predetermined product criteria. The processing circuitry is further configured to capture a first image via the rear-facing camera and determine that the target product proximate the electronic device is depicted in the first image, and to capture a second image via the front-facing camera and detect a shopper in a vicinity of the electronic device is depicted in the second image. The processing circuitry is further configured to in response to determining that the target product proximate the electronic device is depicted in the first image and detecting that the shopper in a vicinity of the electronic device is depicted in the second image, displaying a message related to the target product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20200043086
    Abstract: An interactive transaction system is provided. A terminal, located adjacent or in proximity to a merchandise display, comprises a touch screen device, associated with the product category, configured to present a subset of products within the product category, determining the subset of products within the product category according to an algorithm that may take into account a profile of a shopper interacting with the terminal, a location of the terminal inside the physical merchant store, and products that are located in proximity to the terminal. The terminal is further configured to receive a shopper selection associated with at least one of the products in the subset of products within the product category for fulfillment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20190318372
    Abstract: A method for evaluating effective product visibility in a physical shopping environment including multiple products is provided. The method includes, in a data capture phase, counting a total number of shoppers for a period of time. For a first sample of shoppers, trip length is monitored to determine an average trip length. A second sample of shoppers is audited, and a viewing vector of audited shoppers is determined at each display visited. Displays visited are assigned at least one product category. In a following product category visibility analysis phase, from a total number of shoppers and the average trip length, the total shopping time for the physical shopping environment is calculated. The total shopping time is allocated to each viewing vector of audited shoppers to determine allocated time. From allocated time and the viewing vectors, an exposure value of the product category is determined. Non-display exposure values are also determinable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2018
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20180225744
    Abstract: A system for enhancing shopping in a physical shopping environment including multiple products is provided. The system may include a computing device positioned in the physical shopping environment having a display that activates when a shopper is detected in a specified vicinity of the display. When activated, the display is configured to display a subset of products based on visibility metrics for products in the physical shopping environment and products related to the products in the physical shopping environment that indicate a relative degree to which shopper eyes focused on the products during a product visibility analysis phase prior to the shopping phase. The input device is configured to receive a shopper selection associated with at least one of the products displayed, and a processor of the computing device is configured to perform a predetermined action associated with a selected product in response to receiving the shopper selection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 9633328
    Abstract: Systems and methods for imputing the location of a product in a shopping environment are provided to address the above discussed problems. One example system disclosed herein includes a sensor system configured to track paths for a plurality of shoppers in a shopping environment. The system may further include a data analyzer computing device configured to receive signal data from the sensor system and transaction data from a point of sale system in the shopping environment. The transaction data may indicate the products purchased by the shopper in the shopping environment. The signal data may be matched to corresponding transaction data for the same shopping path. The system may impute one or more product locations of products in the transaction data associated with multiple shopper paths. The imputed product locations may be represented in a probability map, or used to make corrections to a preexisting planogram.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 9483773
    Abstract: A point of view shopper camera system is provided to generate and analyze shoppers' view data. The point of view shopper camera system may comprise a head device including an eye camera and a head orientation sensor, a position tracking sensor to identify a shopper's position, and an analysis computing device. The eye camera may be configured to be mounted to the head of the shopper, and to capture a still or moving image of the field of view of the shopper. The analysis computing device may be configured to receive the captured image data from the eye camera, head orientation data from the head orientation sensor, and the shopper's position data from the position tracking sensor, and determine an estimated field of view of the shopper during a trip in a shopping environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
  • Publication number: 20160247219
    Abstract: An interactive transaction system is provided. A terminal, located adjacent or in proximity to a merchandise display, comprises a touch screen device, associated with the product category, configured to present a subset of products within the product category, determining the subset of products within the product category according to an algorithm that may take into account a profile of a shopper interacting with the terminal, a location of the terminal inside the physical merchant store, and products that are located in proximity to the terminal. The terminal is further configured to receive a shopper selection associated with at least one of the products in the subset of products within the product category for fulfillment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Publication date: August 25, 2016
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20160063517
    Abstract: Systems and methods for analyzing product exposure to one or more shoppers in a shopping environment are disclosed herein. One method may include developing a three-dimensional model of the shopping environment indicating a product location of each of a plurality of products, capturing a plurality of images of shoppers using an overhead camera, and computing an estimated field of view of each shopper captured in the plurality of images. Computer vision techniques may be used to determine a location of a facial feature in the plurality of images, determine a head pose, and then assign the estimated field of view. The method may further include, based on the three-dimensional model, computing that a product location exists within the estimated field of view for each shopper, and generating a visibility metric based on an extent to which the product location exists within each estimated field of view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Publication date: March 3, 2016
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 9076149
    Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods for tracking a view of a shopper are disclosed. The system may include camera coupled with a head of a shopper, and configured to capture one or more images in a field of view of the camera as captured image data. The shopper view tracking system may also include an analysis computing device configured to receive the captured image data, and an analysis program configured to determine an estimated shopper field of view having a boundary that is calculated to represent a probability of a person in a data sample having an actual measured focal point that occurs within the boundary, and to display the estimated shopper field of view superimposed on the one or more images in the captured image data. The analysis program further may be configured to generate an output including statistical measures based on the estimated field of view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist LLC
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
  • Patent number: 8873794
    Abstract: The still image shopping event analysis systems and methods provided herein may implement low frequency still image sampling and perform a computer analysis of the still images captured, including discriminating differences between frames of the still images based on changes of pixels between the frames and detecting and/or analyzing one or more shopping events based on the discriminated differences between frames of the still images. The systems and methods provided herein may further count and/or analyze the shopping events based on patterns of changes between frames, including for example, numbers of customers visiting and amounts of time customers spent visiting a shopping area, whether the visit was a transitory visit or involved more detailed shopping, whether a purchase occurred, and/or which and number of item(s) purchased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, David Albers, Mark A. Byram, Michael D. Gibney, Michael S. Wynne
  • Publication number: 20140278655
    Abstract: A method for analyzing shopping behavior is provided. The method may comprise, for each of a plurality of a first group of shopper trips, detecting a wireless signal for a shopper proxy device adjacent an entrance and an exit of the store. A shopper trip length may be detected. A first relationship between a number of shopper trips and trip length may be calculated. For each of a plurality of a second group of shopper trips, the method further comprises receiving transaction data for a plurality of purchase transactions. A second relationship between shopper trips and items purchased may be calculated. A third relationship, between items purchased and trip length, based on the first and second relationships may be determined. Additionally, a current number of shoppers may be detected and an in-store service deployed in response to detecting that a current number of shoppers exceeds a first predetermined threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20140176723
    Abstract: A point of view shopper camera system is provided to generate and analyze shoppers' view data. The point of view shopper camera system may comprise a head device including an eye camera and a head orientation sensor, a position tracking sensor to identify a shopper's position, and an analysis computing device. The eye camera may be configured to be mounted to the head of the shopper, and to capture a still or moving image of the field of view of the shopper. The analysis computing device may be configured to receive the captured image data from the eye camera, head orientation data from the head orientation sensor, and the shopper's position data from the position tracking sensor, and determine an estimated field of view of the shopper during a trip in a shopping environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Publication date: June 26, 2014
    Applicant: SHOPPER SCIENTIST, LLC
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
  • Patent number: 8666790
    Abstract: A point of view shopper camera system is provided to generate and analyze shoppers' view data. The point of view shopper camera system may comprise a head device including an eye camera and a head orientation sensor, a position tracking sensor to identify a shopper's position, and an analysis computing device. The eye camera may be configured to be mounted to the head of the shopper, and to capture a still or moving image of the field of view of the shopper. The analysis computing device may be configured to receive the captured image data from the eye camera, head orientation data from the head orientation sensor, and the shopper's position data from the position tracking sensor, and determine an estimated field of view of the shopper during a trip in a shopping environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
  • Publication number: 20130325546
    Abstract: Methods for providing and comparing visual purchase deconstructions are provided. One example method for providing a visual purchase deconstruction includes recognizing a pre-purchase event, tracking movement of a focus position of one or both eyes of the shopper, recognizing a purchase event of the product, and, upon recognizing the purchase event, determining the purchase deconstruction representing the purchase based on the movement of the focus location during a pre-purchase window, the pre-purchase window having a duration from the pre-purchase event to the purchase event. The visual purchase deconstruction may be compared to one or more other purchases for any combination of products and shoppers. The visual purchase deconstruction and/or the comparisons thereof may be usable to determine one or more the factors that resulted in a product being purchased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Publication date: December 5, 2013
    Applicant: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Publication number: 20120182172
    Abstract: Tracking systems and methods for tracking shoppers in a shopping environment are provided. The systems include at least one receiver configured to receive wireless transmissions from a remote source and a data analyzer configured to receive data from the at least one receiver and to determine statistical data corresponding to the shoppers. The methods include receiving a wireless signal within a band transmitted from a mobile transmitter in a shopping environment, and transmitting tracking data corresponding to reception of the wireless signal to a data analyzer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Applicant: SHOPPER SCIENTIST, LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen
  • Patent number: 8140378
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for modeling shopper behavior in a store. The system may include an analysis program executable on a computing device, configured to receive product position data and shopper path data gathered from a plurality of stores, each having a different shape represented in a corresponding store map. The analysis program is typically configured to spatially define behavioral domains, product categories, and geographic locations that are common to each of the store maps, and compute statistics based on the product position data and the shopper path data, which statistics are normalized by behavioral domain, product category, and geographic location, across the plurality of stores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLC
    Inventor: Herb Sorensen