Fujitsu (Tokyo, Japan) will unveil technology to analyze the purchasing behaviors of shoppers in retail stores by detecting their lines of sight, according to Tech-On!. The technology will be described at the company's Fujitsu Forum 2014 (Tokyo; May 15 and 16, 2014).
The technology, which can reveal what products visitors pay attention to on store shelves, is still under development; Fujitsu has not yet decided when to commercialize it. But the sensors are small enough that shopers who are not on the lookout for monitoring devices likely won't see them (or maybe won't care if they do).
The shopper's line of sight is detected using an infrared (IR) LED device and IR sensor. Infrared light is directed at shoppers; the light reflected from their corneas and the positions of their pupils are detected with the IR sensor. For example, when the shopper's pupil is positioned nearer to the outer corner of the eye than the light reflected from the cornea, it means that the person is looking in that direction.
The line-of-sight sensor is as small as an AA battery and can be easily installed on a display shelf. It is connected to a personal computer via a USB port and can detect the line of sight of a shopper standing about 50 cm away from the shelf (the usual distance for shoppers).
Only data of the coordinates of visual lines is stored; other data such as image data does not remain, says Fujitsu. Each line-of-sight sensor can detect the line of site of one person.
For detecting the line of sight of a visitor who is looking at products farther away from shelves, the "long-range line-of-sight sensor" is used. For this sensor, Fujitsu used a higher-power IR LED for illumination and a camera capable of detecting a face, as well as an IR sensor with a zoom function for detecting a shopper's line of site.
When a face is detected with the camera, the zoom function is used to make it easier to detect the line of sight. As a result, it becomes possible to monitor visitors about 2 m away from the long-range line-of-sight sensor.
In a demonstration at the exhibition, Fujitsu will display information on products being eyed by visitors from a distance.
Source: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20140514/351724/
