Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein include a system including a grid of plurality of projected capacitance (PCAP) sensors, wherein each of the plurality of PCAP sensors is configured to generate time-series of heat data related to a pixel on the grid, a pre-processing module configured to receive a vector of heat map data and remove noise from the heat data, a contour detection module configured to detect contours of one or more objects, and a feature extraction module configured to extract one or more features from the contours of one or more objects and to generate an input vector for a machine learning model, wherein the machine learning model is configured to identify the one or more objects.

Abstract: The invention provides methods and apparatus for optimizing markdown scheduling that group multiple retail sites into bins (or buckets) for purposes of scheduling markdown pricing on an item (or group of related items) sold by those sites. The groupings can be based, for example, on a metric that is a function of the current inventory of the item (or items) and its expected sales at each site. A markdown schedule is generated for the combined grouping of stores in each bucket, rather than for the individual stores that make up that bucket, thereby speeding price optimization determination. A report of those schedules can be used, for example, by pricing managers or other personnel to set prices at the sites. Alternatively, or in an addition, the schedules can be used in conjunction with an inventory control system to set prices for the items and/or on RFID or other electronic shelf displays.