Abstract: Disclosed is a system for data collection from a point of sale, product display area, or point of service area, that includes a data receiving and processing center. The system is stand-alone and portable, and collects real-time data about the customers. Such data includes tracking the number of customers passing by a specific product, the average time that customers remain in front of the product, comparisons between the periods of time that customers remain in front of different products, and tracking the height and weight of potential customers in order to determine their demographic characteristics. The system utilizes different sensors, including infrared and proximity. A speech recognition application helps to recognize and analyze customers' reactions on certain products and converts speech to text. This speech recognition system is programmable to capture pre-defined key words rather than recording entire conversations. The system further allows on-line inventory tracking and market surveying.