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).
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Publication number: 20230056742Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: August 17, 2021Publication date: February 23, 2023Inventors: Herb Sorensen, Mark Heckman
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Patent number: 11176602Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 15, 2019Date of Patent: November 16, 2021Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 11164197Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: April 13, 2018Date of Patent: November 2, 2021Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 11042887Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: August 29, 2014Date of Patent: June 22, 2021Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 11004113Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: August 14, 2020Date of Patent: May 11, 2021Assignee: SHOPPER SCIENTIST LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20200043086Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: October 15, 2019Publication date: February 6, 2020Inventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20190318372Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: April 13, 2018Publication date: October 17, 2019Inventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20180225744Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: February 3, 2017Publication date: August 9, 2018Inventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 9633328Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: November 23, 2012Date of Patent: April 25, 2017Assignee: Shopper Scientist LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 9483773Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: March 3, 2014Date of Patent: November 1, 2016Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
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Publication number: 20160247219Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2015Publication date: August 25, 2016Inventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20160063517Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: August 29, 2014Publication date: March 3, 2016Inventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 9076149Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 6, 2008Date of Patent: July 7, 2015Assignee: Shopper Scientist LLCInventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
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Patent number: 8873794Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: February 12, 2008Date of Patent: October 28, 2014Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventors: Herb Sorensen, David Albers, Mark A. Byram, Michael D. Gibney, Michael S. Wynne
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Publication number: 20140278655Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: March 15, 2013Publication date: September 18, 2014Applicant: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20140176723Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: March 3, 2014Publication date: June 26, 2014Applicant: SHOPPER SCIENTIST, LLCInventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
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Patent number: 8666790Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: April 24, 2009Date of Patent: March 4, 2014Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventors: Herb Sorensen, Marcus Hannon Geroux, David Albers
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Publication number: 20130325546Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: March 14, 2013Publication date: December 5, 2013Applicant: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Publication number: 20120182172Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: January 13, 2012Publication date: July 19, 2012Applicant: SHOPPER SCIENTIST, LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen
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Patent number: 8140378Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: July 11, 2005Date of Patent: March 20, 2012Assignee: Shopper Scientist, LLCInventor: Herb Sorensen