Abstract: Users and providers register with a portal. Users are provided codes that link to the portal and contact information for the users. When a provider needs a user to physically sign a document, the user presents the code for scanning by a provider device, this redirects the document and the code to the portal. A ledger is maintained on the portal for the transaction, the portal forwards the document to the user using the contact information. The user uses an application to review the document and accept or reject the document. When the user accepts the document, a physical signature of the user is placed within the document at signature locations and forwarded back to the portal. The portal updates the ledger indicating the user physically signed and forwards the physically signed document to the provider. Neither the unsigned document nor the physically signed document are stored on the portal.

Abstract: Agents are configured to collect data from terminals and send the data in real time to a data integrator. The data integrator identifies the data types and processes custom aggregation on select ones of data types from the data. The data and the output of any aggregations are translated to a select output format and sent to one or more select resources for further processing. The data integrator determines when to send the data and the output from any aggregation in the select output format to the one more select resources based on a defined condition. In an embodiment, the data integrator sends the data and output from any aggregation in real time to at least one of the one or more select resources.

Abstract: Auditing information is captured from a processing stack of an invoked application. An annotation customized for that invocation context is processed to filter and/or add additional audition information available from the processing stack. The customized auditing information is then sent to a destination based on a processing context of the invoked application when the invoked application completes processing. In an embodiment, the customized auditing information is housed in a data store and an interface is provided for customized query processing, report processing, event processing, a notification processing.

Abstract: During startup or boot of a device, software or firmware associated with a processor and/or microcontroller of the device slow walks the handover of control to critical initialization or steady-state functions to account for any instability due to an electrical transient that may cause the processor and/or microcontroller to perform erratically or non-deterministically during startup or boot. The wait time associated with the slow-walk handover of control is optimized to ensure that no instability due to transients is present when the wait time expires. In an embodiment, after the wait time expires, firmware/software associated with the bootloader and/or Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) may further continuously calculate a checksum value for the corresponding target software/firmware and compare the calculated value against an expected checksum value. When the calculated checksum matches the expected checksum, remaining portions of the firmware/software for the bootloader and/or BIOS are given control.

Abstract: An autonomous chat bot monitors actions of users on a messaging platform and generates self-initiated chat sessions with the user to gauge users' interest and intent with respect to a target subject matter and the conversations of the chat sessions. Based on the gauged interest and intent, profiles or preferences are generated for the users independent of or relevant to the target subject matter.

Abstract: Objects associated with a self-checkout area are identified and tracked through transaction data comprised of transaction details, device statuses, transaction interrupts/events, and video feeds during transactions on Self-Service Terminals (SSTs). Selective objects and selective transaction data are correlated together in a group for each transaction. Actions required of an attendant who is managing the transactions are identified for each group. An Augmented Reality (AR) interface is provided on an attendant-operated device that visually and uniquely identifies the actions, each group requiring a given action, and each object of each group that is to be the subject of the given action. In an embodiment, remote verification, audit, and override actions are processed through gestures made by the attendant and detected by the AR interface.

Abstract: A scanner is provided having an integrated or retrofitted amber filter placed in front of white illumination LEDs. When an object/item is placed within a field of view of a lens of the scanner, the white illumination LEDs are illuminated and pass through the amber filter, which filters out light in the light spectrum of approximately 340-500 nm. The object/item is illuminated with light approximately above 500 nm and reflected back through a portion of the lens that covers an imaging sensor resulting in an object/item image in the light spectrum approximately above 500 nm, which improves the user experience by removing the glaring blue light component of the white LEDs illumination while not impacting the performance of the object/item recognition when processed for a transaction being conducted at a transaction terminal that is interfaced to the scanner.

Abstract: An Application Programming Interface (API) is provided for interaction between a User Interface (UI) of a device and microservices provided from a cloud processing environment. The API provides a single device-type independent backend to the frontends of the microservices. The UI defines the data types and specific data that it needs for processing from a given microservice. The backend calls the appropriate microservice through the corresponding frontend of the microservice. The microservice may engage other microservices resulting in output being returned to the backend. The backend provides only the output associated with the data types and the specific data back to the UI.

Abstract: A system detects a transaction outcome by obtaining video data associated with a transaction area and analyzing the video data to obtain at least one video transaction parameter concerning transactions associated with the transaction area. The transaction area can be a video count of items indicated in the video data as detected by an automated item detection algorithm applied to the video data. The system obtains at least one expected transaction parameter concerning an expected transaction that occurs in the transaction area, such as a scan count of items scanned at a point of sale terminal. The system automatically compares the video transaction parameter(s) to the expected transaction parameter(s) to identify a transaction outcome that may indicate fraudulent activity such as sweethearting in a retail environment.

Abstract: Video of customer faces during checkouts are captured in real time and analyzed to assign identifiers for expressions of the customers. Simultaneously, transaction data and events being raised for the checkouts are correlated based on time stamps with the expression identifiers. A collection of data captured for the correlated transaction data, events, and identifiers are processed by a machine-learning algorithm to identify clusters and/or patterns between the expression identifiers and specific transaction events. The clusters are mined and reported to a retailer for identifying points during the workflow for the checkouts, transaction interface components, transaction terminal settings, transaction terminal peripherals, etc. that are potentially causing negative customer reactions during the checkouts.

Abstract: An indoor location is mapped into a grid comprising grid cells, each cell associated with items or objects detected as being present in the corresponding cell. The grid, grid cells, and linked items and/or objects are generated and updated using an Augmented Reality (AR) algorithm that maps a physical environment into cells and measures distances and directions within the environment relative to each cell. Walking paths (routes) to the items within the indoor location are generated using the grid information. As a user walks a path, the user's position within the indoor location is mapped and tracked to the cells and the path revised based on the user's actual position. A user device provides video via an AR application to track the user's position; a rendering of the position and path are superimposed within the video being viewed by the user on the user-operated device.

Abstract: Multiple portions of information for a product are hashed to produce unique hash values during a journey of the product from production to purchase by a consumer. The hash values and information are stored in a cryptographic cooperatively shared product data structure. The hash values are subsequently submitted as product or portions of product searches to the cryptographic cooperatively shared product data structures and results are obtained for products associated with the portions of the information. The results are provided to services to drive proactive actions with respect to the product or other products related to any of the portions of information.

Abstract: Transaction records for self-service checkout transactions are provided in real-time to a customizable machine-learning rescan audit service. Any retailer defined settings with respect to random audits are enforced by the service and the real-time transaction records are provided to a machine-learning model that returns rescan scores based on the real-time transaction records. The service compares the rescan scores in view of retailer-defined suspicious scores for both a full rescan of a given checkout transaction and a partial rescan of the given checkout transaction. The service alerts the retailer when a rescan audit is predicted to be warranted for any given self-service checkout transaction based on random selection or based on the computed rescan score. The machine-learning model is continuously and regularly retrained. In an embodiment, the service provides reports, a dashboard, and mining of the transaction records and the audits to the retailer though a service-provided interface.

Abstract: A fine-grain analytics engine and a report/notification interface are provided. The fine-grain analytics engine is configured to be customized configured for fine-grain projections and metrics generation for operations of an enterprise. The report/notification interface provides an Application Programming Interface (API) and an interactive graphical display interface for reporting and integrating the projections and metrics generated by the fine-grain analytics engine into enterprise services and enterprise devices.

Abstract: Techniques for transacting with a kiosk are provided. A user activates a remoting feature of a kiosk. A kiosk agent on the kiosk directly or indirectly causes a link to be sent to a mobile device of the user. The link when activated on the mobile device providing an interface for transacting with the kiosk from the mobile device.

Abstract: A data processing system includes a first communication session participant device, a service orchestration controller, and a plurality of second communication session participant devices. Each of the second communication session participants has an attribute to perform a type of service task.

Abstract: A mapping of a physical environment and objects within the physical environment are generated. The objects are tracked within the physical environment and any transaction data associated with transaction correlated with the objects. The objects, relationships between each object, and any transaction data are evaluated to assign a risk score or an assessment needs score. Each score is mapped to one or more unique visual features and a heat map is generated that depicts the objects within the physical environment along with their visual features. The heat map is continuously updated in real time as scores change for the objects and the visual features change. The heat map is rendered within an interface of a device operated or worn by an attendant to assist the attendant in quickly ascertaining any risk of loss, any risk of threat, and/or any customer in need of assistance within the physical environment.

Abstract: A data model is derived from transaction data. The model is represented in a combination data structure for a tree and a hash table. The hash table provides direct access to leaves of the tree, each leaf comprises a frequency count for a particular unique basket of items detected in the transaction data. Mining the combination data structure does not require recursive traversal of the tree. Moreover, derivation is performed with just two passes on the transaction data, during each pass multiple concurrent reducer tasks handle a unique portion of the transaction data providing parallel processing during creation and derivation which improves the processor elapsed time to complete the combination data structure. Furthermore, updates to the data structure are incremental without requiring any additional passes on the original transaction data and without requiring full traversal of the tree. Output from the mining is provided as input to predictor services.

Abstract: Security video is captured when one or more individuals are detected as entering a secure area. Actions of the one or more individuals are monitored based on security policies associated with the secure area. Identifiers for the one or more individuals and action identifiers for the actions are recorded in a security log while the one or more individuals remain in the secure area. The security video is stopped when the individuals are detected as exiting the secure area. The security video is linked to entries recorded in the security log. In an embodiment, when a non-compliant action is detected from the actions based on the security policies, a real-time alert is raised, and/or the security video is streamed in real time to a security monitor.

Abstract: Dynamic and Customized web pages provided by a search engine to link to a retailer's online site are redirected to an integration platform when activated within a browser from search results of a user search. The integration platform segments the web pages into a plurality of sub links that when detected from the activation, which resulted in the browser redirection to the integration platform, cause specific retailer services to be accessed by the integration platform and customized information and services provided to the user within the browser.