[0001] This application claims priority to US Provisional Application No. 62/658,039, filed April 16, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention broadly relates to systems and methods of acquiring and processing data regarding stored or displayed items, including items displayed in a retail environment.

Back2round of the Invention

[0003] Monitoring an inventory and understanding the manner in which customers interact with an inventory are important aspects of any business. In particular in a retail environment, it can be critically important to understand how customers interact with goods on display and to know and understand which goods and/or area of a store attract the most consumer attention. There remains a need in the art for a computerized or automated system or method to effectively monitor an inventory and to monitor consumer interactions with displayed goods in a manner that provides information about consumer behavior.

[0004] The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.

[0005] In this specification where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Brief Description of the Drawii s

[0006] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic depiction of an example embodiment of a system consistent with the embodiments discussed herein.

[0007] Fig. 2 illustrates an example of items displayed on a support including pins.

[0008] Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a one dimensional periodic grating as may be used in some embodiments

[0009] Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a two dimensional periodic grating as may be used in some embodiments.

[0010] Fig. 5 illustrates an example of an item having a tag attached to an outside surface of the item.

[0011] Fig. 6 illustrates an example of an embodiment (i) in which the tag is embedded in the item and (ii) which utilizes a metamaterial.

[0012] Fig. 7 depicts an example of the data and output that may be generated by certain embodiments.

[0013] Fig. 8 depicts an example of the data and output that may be generated by certain embodiments.

[0014] Fig. 9 depicts an example of the data and output that may be generated by certain embodiments.

[0015] Fig. 10 depicts an example of the data and output that may be generated by certain embodiments. [0016] Fig. 11 depicts an example of the data and output that may be generated by certain embodiments.

[0017] Fig. 12 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a data acquisition method.

[0018] Fig. 13 depicts a flowchart of an embodiment of a data processing method.

[0019] Fig. 14 illustrates an exemplary microstrip line leaking electric and magnetic fields.

[0020] Fig. 15 illustrates a planar configuration of the microstrip line antenna set with the support of items.

[0021] Fig. 16 illustrates an antenna coil array in the form of a birdcage.

[0022] Fig. 17 illustrates an exemplary display set up.

[0023] Fig. 18 provides an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0024] Fig. 19 provides an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0025] Fig. 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0026] Fig. 21 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0027] Fig. 22 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0028] Fig. 23 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system.

Brief description of the inventions

[0029] A method associated with a retail management system, comprising providing a display having an integrally formed antenna provided therein, the antenna capable of receiving a signal from a tagged object placed on the display and a retailer tagged item provided in proximity to the display; receiving signals from the antenna using a receiver; capturing retailer tagged item data from the retailed tagged item and capturing tagged object data associated with the movement of the tagged object; providing an interface; providing a controller, connected by the interface to the receiver, capable of processing the retailer tagged item data and the tagged object movement data received from the antenna; providing a database, the database being connected to the controller, wherein the database includes secondary data associated with the tagged object; and calculating a frequency of movement of the tagged object based on the tagged object movement data and the retailer tagged item data.

[0030] A retail management system, comprising a display; an antenna integrally formed within the display, the antenna capable of receiving a signal from a tagged object provided near the display; a retailer tagged item, associated with a retailer; a receiver for receiving signals from the antenna; an interface; a controller, connected by the interface to the receiver, capable of processing the signals received from the antenna; a database, the databased being connected to the controller, wherein the database includes secondary data associated to the tagged object provided near the display; and wherein the movement data is calculated based on movement of the tagged object with respect to the display and adjusted based on the detection of the presence of detected retailer tagged item data.

[0031] A method of managing a retail activity in a multi-vendor environment, the method comprising providing at least one vendor specific display, the display having an integrated rail system capable of receiving signals from an object and a interaction device, wherein the interaction device is assigned to a specific user; capturing data on movement of the object and the interaction device brought into proximity to the rail system; integrating the movement of the object and the interaction device to assign a movement indication by the specific user;

outputting the data associated with the specific user to a display. Detailed Description

[0032] In the following paragraphs, the present invention will be described in detail by way of example and including with reference to the figures. Throughout this description, the preferred embodiment and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than as limitations on the present invention. As used herein, the“present invention” refers to any one of the embodiments of the invention described herein, and any equivalents. Furthermore, reference to various feature(s) of the“present invention” throughout this document does not mean that all claimed embodiments or methods must include the referenced feature(s).

[0033] It is understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,”“an,” and“the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to“a wall” is a reference to one or more walls and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art and so forth.

[0034] While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.

[0035] The present invention includes systems and methods, including methods of using the described systems to achieve one or more of the results described herein. For example, embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods that can determine whether an Item has been moved from its Designated Tocation and can determine the amount of time of removal of the Item and if the Item has been returned to its initial Designated Tocation or another location containing sensors that can detect the presence of the object.

[0036] In describing embodiments of the present invention, the following terms have the meanings given here:

[0037] “Designated Tocation”: Means an item’s prescribed location. The location may be any location meaningful for the user of the systems and methods of the present invention, for example a support in a retail store such as a wall, fixture, or shelf. The location may be prescribed for any period of time, including a short a period (minutes or seconds) or as long a period as weeks, months, or years. The location may be specific or broad, for example a particular spot or dock on a support or any general position or place on a particular support 40.

In some embodiments a Designated Location may be simply a position Item 60 (or Tag 10) occupies for a certain percentage of the time it is monitored, for example a position occupied by Item 60 (or Tag 10) for more than 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% (or portions of the foregoing) of the time it is monitored. In further embodiments, a Designated Location may be a position Item 60 (or Tag 10) occupied for more than certain amount of time, for example a position occupied by Item 60 (or Tag 10) for more than 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, 120, minutes, 180 minutes (or anywhere in between) monitored. In other embodiments, the Designated Location may be established by the system identifying a starting position for the Item 60 (or Tag 10), for example at the time of a store opening, at the time the store is stocked or re-stocked, or at the time an Item 60 is positioned by a person in any fashion (including by a consumer that removes and replaces an Item 60).

[0038] “Item”: Means the object to be tagged and monitored or tracked by the systems or methods of the present invention. For example, an Item may be any good or product generally purchased or rented by a consumer, spare parts, or any part, unit, good, or similar item that a user of the systems or methods of the present invention may want to display, store, track, or monitor for any purpose.

[0039] “Tag”: Means any element that can be associated in any manner with an Item in a manner that can provide information regarding the Item to a receiver that is not physically attached to the Tag, including a Reader. The Tag may utilize any technology now known or in the future developed. In certain embodiments, the Tag is an RFID tag, which may be any type of RFID tag now known or in the future developed, for example one that comprises an antenna and a chip and can be active (powered by batteries) or passive (powered by means of harvesting the electromagnetic energy from the reader). The Tag may be powered by means of harvesting energy from other sources such as electromagnetic transmitters, solar power, thermal energy, or kinetic energy sources). In other embodiments, the Tag may be a an acoustic Tag, such as an Ultrasound ID (UID) tag. In further embodiments, the Tag may be an optical tag recognizable by visual optical recognition. The tag can be also added to existing embodiments for example in anti-thief embodiments using Acoustic-magnetic technology used in anti-thief devices .

[0040] “Master Box”: Means the composition of a Reader with a General Purpose input/output GPIO controller and its power source. The reader is any element capable of sending and/or receiving information to/from the Tag without a physical connection to the Tag. The GPIO controller is used to interface and to control external devices with the reader with the intention to add new functionalities such as multiplexing the antenna ports or interfacing external sensors among others. The Reader and the GPIO controller are further configured in a manner such that they may be connected in any manner to one or more Reader Antennas. Such a connection, for example, could be physical through cables or ports or wireless. The Reader may use any technology now known or in the future developed. For example, the Reader may be an electronics circuit board that receives power and is connected to a network, then transmits power to an antenna. The Reader for any given system or method of the present invention should be configured in a manner that can send and/or receive (via the Reader Antenna) information to and/or from a selected Tag.

[0041] “Reader Antenna”: Means an antenna or similar structure that is functionally associated with the Reader and is configured to receive information from one or more Tags. The Reader Antenna may use any technology now known or in the future developed. The Reader Antenna for any given system or method of the present invention should be configured in a manner that can receive the information provided by the Tag selected, for example Reader Antenna that can receive acoustic signals for an acoustic Tag and a Reader Antenna that can receive optical signals for an optical Tag. In some embodiments, Reader Antenna 30 comprises a Metamaterial. When the Reader ² Antenna bases its operation on electromagnetic coupling at an operating frequency, the antenna may, for example, be constructed upon the techniques used for dipole antennas, transmission lines (among them, coplanar waveguides with or without ground plane that favors the signal transmission. Adapting the geometry and materials, the transmission line allows controlling the leak field on its surroundings. An example of these transmission lines commonly used by experts in the field are the microstrip lines), Fligh-impedance surfaces (TTIS), metamaterials, leaky wave antennas, coil antennas and its variants such as birdcage antennas, the combination of these techniques or others from the electromagnetic theory art. The Reader Antenna might be optimized to operate in the near field region, in the far field region or in both simultaneously upon the necessary range of tracking of tagged items. The present invention considers the use, but not only, of Low Profile Surface Antennas using microstrip lines.

Dimensions of the Low Profile Surface Antennas are between 1 and 2 cm of thickness and the surfaces are adaptable in order to cover the specific surfaces used in retail environment to display the items, indeed to instrumentalize the surface.“Instrumentalize” stands for embedding the surface antenna into the furniture without altering its usability nor its aesthetics. The Low Profile Surface Antenna allow instrumentalizing almost any furniture used to display items in retail environment (wall displays, shelfs, drawers; etc.). The use of antenna coils and array of them is also possible to conform circular shapes such as baskets or tunnels used in retail environment.

[0042] “OF”: Means an operating frequency for the Tag, Reader, and Reader Antenna.

The OF may be any frequency capable of conveying information from the Tag to the Reader.

For example, in the case of a Tag utilizing RFID, this can be Low Frequency (LF), Fligh Frequency (F1F), or Ultra Fligh Frequency (UF1F), as those terms are known and used in the art. For example, LF may be from 125 - 134.2 kHz; HF may be 13.56 MHz, UHF may be 860MHz. In other embodiments the OF may be 120 - 150 kHz, 433 MHz, 865-868 MHz, 902-928 MHz, 2450-5800 MHz, or 3.1-10 GHz.

[0043] “RF switch”: Means a multiplexer device of the radiofrequency signal from one input port towards at least two output ports. The signal is switched alternatively to only one of the output ports at a time. In some embodiments, the“RF switch” can be used in the deployment of the system with the aim of multiplying the number of Reader Antennas without increasing the number of Readers. The RF switch is optimized to operate at the OF with the minimum insertion losses. The RF switch may, for example, be embedded in the Reader or might be external and might need a controller and/or a power source.

[0044] “Off’: Means a state where a Tag is no longer capable of being read by the

Reader, for example because the Tag is out of range of the Reader Antenna. [0045] “On”: Means a state where a Tag is read by the Reader, for example because the

Tag is in range of the Reader Antenna.

[0046] “Metamaterial”: Means any material or geometry combination that yields a new effective material that has properties not found in nature. For example, a metamaterial may be a material having a particular composition, shape, geometry, size, or orientation that gives it the ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves. In other examples, a metamaterial may be a narrow band filter, gratings, or antenna substrates.

[0047] Figure 1 depicts an embodiment of a system of the present invention that includes one or more Tags 10, one or more Master-boxes 20, one or more RF switch 1000, one or more Reader Antennas 30, one or more supports 40, software 50, one or more Items 60, one or more computing element 70, one or more memory 85, and one or more displays 80. In some embodiments, only certain elements of the system may be provided. For example, in some embodiments the system may comprise individual elements identified above or some combination of only a subset of the elements listed above. For example, in some embodiments a system comprises a Tag 10, a Master box 20, a Reader Antenna 30, and software 50.

[0048] Still with reference to Figure 1 , a specific example embodiment for monitoring

130 pairs of glasses (Items 60) in the UF1F frequency includes: one passive RFID tag (Tag 10) attached or associated with each pair of glasses; one Master box 20 appropriate for UF1F operatively connected with four Reader Antennas 30 (which may exploit the electromagnetic coupling behavior of microstrip lines but the coupling technique may be any other based on the electromagnetic theory for instance the one used in dipole antennas, Fligh-impedance surfaces (TTIS), metamaterials, leaky wave antenna, or others); and a Computing element 70 that is a raspberry pi single board computer that is operatively connected with Master box 20 and to the Internet or an intranet. In such a system, computing element 70 is responsible of transferring the data acquired by the Master box from one or more Tags 10, to a remote server housing a database. The data is added to the database and made available for analysis along with prior data. Software 50 runs on computing element 70 and can call selective data from the database for any of the analyses described herein. [0049] Computing element 70 may be any central processing unit, processing and control unit, or processor. Computing element 70 may local or remote. The Computing element 70 may also be a general purpose computer, including a workstation or server based system or a personal desktop or laptop computer. In certain embodiments, computing element 70 is functionally connected with memory 85 and display 80 and is configured to execute software 50 and to process the information generated by the system (for example, the data gathered from one or more Tags 10) and to generate an output for display 80. In certain embodiments, computing element 70 is functionally connected with memory 85 and display 80 and is configured to execute software 50 and to process the information generated by the system (for example, the data gathered from one or more Tags 10) and to generate an output 90 for display 80.

[0050] Memory 85 may be any suitable form of memory and may be in one or more drives, devices, or the like. In some embodiments, memory may be in the form of a hard drive as now known or in the future developed. Memory 85 may be local to one or more components of the systems of the present invention or remote to one or more components of the systems of the present invention (for example on a remote server or through a cloud-based system) or a combination of the two.

[0051] Tag 10 may be associated with Item 60 in any suitable manner, for example embedded in any suitable part of Item 60 (for example, as depicted in Figure 6) or attached to the exterior of Item 60 using any suitable method (for example as depicted in Figure 5 as integrated into sticker 160). In associating Tag 10 with Item 60, one of skill in the art will appreciate that Tag 10 must be associated in a manner and position that accounts for the composition of Item 60, in particular with respect to any metallic parts or portions of Item 60. Such aspects need also be considered in the design of the Reader and the reader antenna. In particular, in some

embodiments the Tag 10 is associated with Item 60 in a manner that matches the resonance frequency of the OF. Tag 10 can vary in size depending on the user’s requirements, the OF, and the desired range of tracking of the Tag 10 by the system.

[0052] Support 40 may be any physical means of supporting, displaying, or storing one or more Items 60. Support 40 includes one or more Designated Locations for one or more Items 60. For example, Figure 2 depicts Items 60 (in this example, eyeglasses) on Support 40 which constitutes a wall unit having holes to receive a portion of each Item 60 and post 65 to contact a portion of each Item 60. In preferred embodiments, post 65 comprises one or more metals or alloys. In other embodiments, post 65 may comprise other materials.

[0053] Display 80 may be any suitable device or system to display visual information to a user. For example, display 80 may be a computer monitor, any type of television, or any similar display. Display 80 may be in the same physical location as the rest of the system (for example in a retail store or other location where Items 60 are monitored) or it may be remotely located.

[0054] In the embodiment in Figure 1, Item 60 includes an embedded Tag 10 and multiple Items 60 on multiple supports 40, each of which includes a Designated Location for each Item 60. As depicted in Figure 1 , Item 60 is eyeglasses and support 40 is a set of shelves mounted on a wall. The Designated Location for each Item 60 is a particular location on the shelves of support 40. One or more Reader Antennas 30 is associated with each support 40 (each shelf). In other embodiments, different numbers of Reader Antennas 30 may be used, depending on the nature of the support 40 and the configuration of the Reader Antenna 30. Further discussions of Reader Antenna 30 is made with respect to at least Figures 3, 4, and 6.

[0055] In the depicted embodiment each Tag 10 includes information associated with or regarding the Item 60 with which it is associated. For example, such information may be regarding the model, color, and/or style of Item 60. In other embodiments Tag 10 may include any relevant information regarding Item 60, including any identifying information regarding the Item 60, details regarding length of time the Item 60 has been on support 40, or any other information that may be relevant to the user of the system or methods of the present invention. The information may be stored on Item 60 in any suitable manner. For example, where Tag 10 is a passive RFID tag the Tag 10 may store only a unique identifier (such as a number) and such number may be associated with information (such as that referenced above) regarding Item 60.

In some embodiments, such information may be stored in a memory and associated with Item 60 through the software 50.

[0056] Master box 20, including through its functional association with Reader Antenna

30, will record movement of Item 60 from its Designated Location on support 40, including return of Item 60 to its Designated Location. Reader 20 will detect movement within its functional range, which is determined by the amount of power provided, the coupling mechanism of the Reader Antenna 30, the OF, and/or the nature of the field generated. In some embodiments, the electromagnetic fields resulting from the reader antenna 30 are near field and are near zero after a required distance. For example, where UF1F is used wavelengths may be about 35 cm and the reading range would be approximately the wavelength for the near field. In some embodiments, one achieves such a near field and distance limited configuration by:

• using a Reader Antenna 30 array that is configured to generate leaky modes - a mode having an electric field that is exponentially decaying in one direction, but propagates in the remaining directions of the dimensional space. Such a mode gradually“leaks” out of the waveguide as it travels down it, producing attenuation even if the waveguide is perfect in every respect. In the context of the embodiments of the present invention, the leaky mode decays exponentially modes in the z direction if the Reader Antenna 30 array is doubly periodic in the plane of the support 40. Leaky modes ensure a strong concentration of energy near the surface and decay strongly away from the surface. This allows for stronger signals in the vicinity of the wall while controlling the distance at which the frames should not be read away from the wall.

• using a Reader Antenna 30 radiating to infinity, whereby the power is regulated such that after a distance Tags are no longer in a range or are not read anymore. One of skill in the art will further appreciate that such a Reader Antenna may be configured in a manner that makes this distance easier to regulate and/or easier to apply to the systems and methods of the present invention. For example, the Reader Antenna may be configured to be directive such that the directivity will play a role in determining where the Reader Antenna will transmit energy.

• Using a Reader Antenna 30 comprising a single leaking microstrip line laid along a

structure surface with an extended ground plane parallel to the plane support 40.

Microstrip lines are commonly used at microwave frequencies as transmission lines, due to their ease of fabrication and integration with other electric devices, and may be used at such frequencies in some embodiments. Flowever, depending on substrate parameters and strip shape, the leaking electric and magnetic fields may be enhanced at a certain OF. Although undesired for usual microwave circuits, this leaking characteristic may be exploited to produce controlled close-range Tag detection at UF1F, without readings from Items located outside the desired volume. One end of the microstrip line is connected to the Master box and the other end to an impedance matched load. The matched load can be for example and additional port from the Reader or from the RF switch.

[0057] In embodiments utilizing a leaky mode, configurations may include aspects of

Figures 2, 3, and 4. In particular, Figures 2, 3 and 4 depict examples of configurations of Reader Antenna 30 in embodiments utilizing leaky modes. Any depicted specific dimensions or configurations are exemplary only, in that leaky modes may be induced by any structure that has a one dimensional or two dimensional periodicity or pseudo-periodicity. In some embodiments, Tags 10, Master box 20, and Reader Antennas 30, are configured to have an OF in the UHF range. Such embodiments utilize UHF as smaller wavelengths mean that Reader Antennas 30 can be smaller.

[0058] Figure 2 depicts Items 60 (in this example, eyeglasses) on Support 40 which constitutes a wall unit having holes to receive a portion of each Item 60 and post 65 to contact a portion of each Item 60. In Figure 2, post 65 are attached to, or integrated with, a support 40 that comprises display structure may be used to create a two dimensional periodic array that is used to support a leaky mode. When the post 65 on the support 40 form a periodic array one can compute the frequencies where the pinned wall supports leaky waves. The nose posts are configured in a manner that takes account of the desired Tag and Reader frequencies, for example UHF for a passive RFID tag. This is done for example by adding grounding components behind the nose posts, which grounding components could be metallic and/or dielectric. The grating (periodic array of nose posts) then changes its resonant frequency to that of UHF and the reader can communicate with the Tags. In some embodiments, the configuration is calculated by modeling the configuration as perfectly periodic and solving the eigenvalue Bloch problem. The found eigenvalues near the antiperiodic boundary conditions will give a good approximation of the existence of a leaky wave and at what frequency the structure can support it. [0059] Figure 3 shows an example of a one dimensional periodic grating 100 including metal portions 110 and glass portions 120. In some embodiments metal portions 110 include protrusions 105. Metal portions 110 may be any suitable type or density of metal (including multiple types or densities) and may have any suitable dimensions depending on the desired properties of the one dimensional periodic grating 100. Moreover, glass portions 120 may be any suitable type or density of glass of any suitable dimensions depending on the desired properties of the one dimensional periodic grating 100. One of skill in the art will appreciate that these elements can be configured such that the periodicity and the size of the metal portions 110, glass portions 120, and protrusions 105 supports leaky modes of a specific frequency that travel along the plane (depicted in by directional arrows z) and are exponentially decaying away from that plane. In other embodiments, a similar effect may be generated by placing parallel stripes of metal on the plane of interest (for example, the plane of a surface of one or more shelves holding Items 60) making a 1D grating that supports leaky modes. As with one dimensional periodic grating 100, the geometric parameters of the stripes will determine the frequency matching of the leaky mode with the frequency of the Tag 10, Reader 20, and Reader Antenna 30 (for example, UHF for Tags 10 that are RFID tags) in accordance with principles known in the art.

[0060] Figure 4 depicts an example of two dimensional periodic grating 125 that includes metallic rods 130, lower portion 140, and base portion 150. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the various elements may be configured such that due to the periodicity and size of periodic grating 125, periodic grating 125 will support leaky modes of a specific frequency that travel along the plane and are exponentially decaying away from the plane of base portion 150.

Metallic rods 130 may be any suitable type or density of metal (including multiple metals) depending on the desired properties of the periodic grating 125. Lower portion 140 may be of any suitable thickness and composed of any suitable material or materials depending on the desired properties of periodic grating 125. Base portion 150 may be of any suitable thickness and composed of any suitable material or materials depending on the desired properties of periodic grating 125. In some embodiments base portion 150 may be any suitable type or density of metal (including multiple metals) or a dielectric material.

[0061] Fig. 14 depicts an example of a single leaking microstrip line 901 laid along the structure surface 902, with an extended ground plane 900. The transmission losses 903 between both ends of the line 901 should be minimized. Impedance matching 904 should be assured at the OF. Controlling the dimensions of the line 901, the distance between line 901 and ground plane 900 and the dielectric properties of the surface 902; the leakage of electric field 905 and magnetic field 906 can be controlled. This leakage will define the reading zone of the antenna to detect the Items 60. The microstrip line may in some embodiments cover all the surface 40 (in Fig. 1). Such a leaking microstrip line may be used in embodiments of a low profile reader antenna of the present invention.

[0062] Fig. 15 depicts an example of configuration of the microstrip line Reader Antenna in regards of the support 40. In some embodiments, the microstrip line can cover all the surface behind 40 doing elbows 903 and take any form, for example, such as meandered lines, spires, zig-zag, or any other similar or dissimilar configuration with the aim of reading Tags from the Designated location.

[0063] Fig. 16 depicts an example of configuration of antenna coil array 800 used as

Reader antenna. The coil array is arranged in the form of birdcage to conform a tubular shape and is covered with a continuous metallic shielding 801. Variations on the dimensions and termination of the shielding 801 could be used as directive elements to form the radiation beams or to concentrate it inside the birdcage. Lumped components 802 may be necessary in each coil to tune the resonance frequency the desired OF. In this example the antenna is tuned at 868 MFlz as seen by the Sl 1 and S22 parameters 805 of portl 803 and port2 804. The number of coils and lumped elements may vary in function of the cylindric volume to cover and/or in function of the electric field 807 and magnetic field 808 magnitude and uniformity desired inside the birdcage. When feeding the circular array of coils 800 with the same signal split in two orthogonal ports for instance portl 803 and port2 804, a polarized signal could be generated by the antenna. The polarization angle is defined by the offset phase between both ports. For an offset phase of 90° the signal will be circular polarized and could ease the detections of Items 60 arbitrary oriented. A great isolation between portl 803 and port2 804 assures the orthogonality of signals in view of generating the circular polarized wave inside the birdcage. This isolation is represented by S12 and S21 parameters 806. Additionally, electronically controlled lumped elements 802 can be used to conveniently modify the field distribution inside the birdcage. By changing the field distribution or resonant modes, different reading zones are defined without modifying the mechanical structure of the antenna and the detection of Items 60 is optimized.

The antenna coil array 800 may be used in embodiments of circular shape like baskets or tunnels present in retail environment of the present invention.

[0064] Figure 6 depicts an embodiment of the present invention wherein Reader Antenna

30 comprises a Metamaterial. In some such embodiments, the Metamaterial may be configured in a manner similar to those depicted in Figures 3 and 4.

[0065] The Master box 20 (including through association with reader antennas 30) captures movement of Item 60 from its Designated Location and captures information such as information regarding the amount of time Item 60 spent away from its Designated Location on support 40. Master box 20 is functionally connected to memory 85 and communicates data to memory 85 for storage and processing. For example, the stored information may be On/Off time and location of the Item 60. In some embodiments, the Master box 20, Tag 10, and reader antenna 30 are configured so that the reader antenna 30 reads the Tag until a certain distance after which Master box 20 stops receiving data from Tag 10. In such an embodiment, the system could record that Tag 10 (and Item 60) has been taken outside of the range of detection and the data acquired is Off at time t. Also in such an embodiment, the system may record that Item 60 and Tag 10 is back in the range of detection (for example because it is at its Designated

Location) and the data acquired is On at time t + dt. In some embodiments, the data is collected and represented as a time series for each Item 60, taking only binary values 0 and 1 for being Off and On respectively. For example, in some embodiments when the Item 60 is moved from a Designated Location the near field from the Reader Antenna 30 is near zero after distance d and the data sent from the Master box 20 to memory 85 is Off for that Designated Location. In some embodiments, the Designated Location for a given Item 60 is stored in memory 85 and the system can reference memory 85 to determine that the given Item 60 is the Item 60 that was moved. The data is sent from a Master box 20 to memory 85, by any suitable means, including via physical connection or wirelessly. In some embodiments, there could be a local memory 85 in communication with additional memory 85 (for example, the memory 85 could be

functionally connected to the Internet and further memory 85 could be server or cloud-based). [0066] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may identify one or more of the following aspects regarding the Items: (i) retrieval of the Item from the Designated Location; (ii) return of the Item to the Designated Location; (iii) permanent retrieval of an Item from the Designated Location; or (iv) the amount of time an Item spends away from its Designated Location.

[0067] Software 50 may be configured to process and/or analyze and/or interpret the information generated by the systems and methods of the present invention. Software 50 may be embodied in multiple elements, modules, and locations and may be applied at any time, including in real time with data generation or at some time after the data has been generated. In some embodiments, software 50 may process and/or analyze and/or interpret data or information for purposes of data transfer, data consistency and data analytics (for example to predict patterns in sales of various Items 60). Software 50 may be in the form of instructions (including in any suitable computer programming language) that may be executed by a computer or processor such as computer element 70. For example, Software 50 may be a set of instructions including instructions to execute one or more of the steps described herein to be performed by systems of the present invention. In some embodiments, Software 50 may be a set of instructions for executing one or more of the steps depicted in Figure 12 and/or Figure 13.

[0068] In some embodiments, software 50 may process information in a manner that may include the following: an analysis of the number of times a person interacted with Item 60 (including recording the number of times a person tried on a wearable Item) or identifying parts of a support 40 or parts of a retail store where consumers are more active. In other embodiments, Software 50 may process information generated by the systems and methods of the present invention in conjunction with relevant data and information not generated by the systems and with sales data to identify correlations in retail sales analytics. In some embodiments, software 50 operates in conjunction with the Master box 20 to apply simple logic for an object being On or Off the Designated Location as well as send the information associated with Tag 10 of the Item 60 together with its On/Off information to memory 85. In some embodiments Figure 13 further describes embodiments of the analytical methods and systems of the presents in the form of a flow chart. [0069] Figures 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 show examples of outputs that may be generated by embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, the output is generated based upon the processing of the system data by software 50. In some embodiments, such outputs may be sent to and displayed via display 80. In other embodiments, the outputs may be stored, for example in memory 85, and displayed at a later time. Although depicted in certain formats or presentations in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, systems and methods of the present invention may output the information in any suitable format, including graphical, raw data, spreadsheets, word or similar documents, or any other suitable format. Moreover, the outputs of the present invention may be manipulated and presented in various manners or iterations, for example, organized by time (e.g., seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years), by type of data, by type of Item 60, by store or location, by Designated Location, or any combination or subset of the foregoing. For example, in some embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may use the data generated by the systems or methods of the present invention to generate outputs that indicate which parts, supports, displays, shelves, rooms, aisles, or the like are most or least visited by consumers or in which consumers are most or least likely to interact with Items 60. Similarly in other embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may use the data generated by the systems or methods of the present invention to generate outputs that indicate which Items 60 are most or least interacted with by consumers or which are interacted with by consumers for the least or most amount of time.

[0070] In some embodiments of the present invention where the Item 60 is an item that is wearable in any manner by a consumer, systems or methods of the present information may interpret On/Off data to represent that a consumer has tried-on Item 60. In some embodiments, such an interpretation may be based on a particular amount of time Item 60 is removed from its associated Designated Location. An exemplary output showing the number of try-ons (y-axis) per day of the week (x-axis) is shown in Figure 7 (with 0 representing Monday and 5

representing Saturday, with Sunday omitted (for example, because the relevant location is not open)) and an exemplary output showing the number of try-ons (y axis) per hour of day (x-axis) (represented in 24 hour format) is shown in Figure 8. In some embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may use the data generated by the systems and methods of embodiments of the present invention to estimate the day(s) of the week and/or the hour(s) of the day where the relevant location (for example a retail shop) has most traffic or when the traffic translates into more consumer interaction with Items 60. For example, some embodiments of the systems and methods of the present invention may further process the data in Figure 7 to determine that Wednesday and Saturday are the busiest days of the week for the given location or the data in Figure 8 to determine that morning hours, right after lunch and before closing are the busiest times of day.

[0071] In some embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may classify an Item 60 as sold where it has an Off value that equals or exceeds a set amount of time. Such an amount of time may be any suitable amount of time taking into account the nature of the location, the nature of the Item, and/or the typical consumer behavior. Figures 9 and 10 present exemplary outputs regarding sales. Figure 9 presents sales per brand or model of Item (with each portion of the pie chart representing a different brand/model). Figure 10 presents sales per color of Item (with each portion of the pie chart representing a different color of Item). As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the systems and methods of the present invention may generate numerous other iterations of similar analyses accounting for locations, styles, or any other aspects of Item 60 as may be relevant to the users of the systems and methods of the present invention.

[0072] In other embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may also determine the conversion rate (i.e., number of sales per try-on or per a given amount of Off time) of each Item or for various groups or agglomerations of Items. In some embodiments, systems and methods of the present invention may also provide further analysis of the available data to provide recommendations regarding how conversion rate may be maximized or otherwise enhanced for a given Item or set of Items.

[0073] In some embodiments, data regarding sales (or, more generally, regarding Items

60 that are permanently removed from its Designated Location 60) generated by systems and methods of the present invention may be correlated with sales data from other sources, for example, from cash registers or other point of sale scanning or information, to identify Items 60 that have been stolen.

[0074] In some embodiments, the time series of the try-ons may be analyzed in conjunction with the time series of the sales of the same or any other Item. In such an analysis, both such quantities may be classified in different ways. In some embodiments, an Item’s aggregation for example allows one to know the best seller per day of the week, or per hour of the day, or per season of the year. In some embodiments, such an analysis may be done on the bulk of all the Items (or some subset thereof) or on a per Item basis. In other embodiments, the conversion rate may be analyzed by location (within a store) or geographic analysis (for example, across a range of stores), for example to generate data taking into account numerous factors such as socio-economic status of the area, weather patterns, or any other set of information or data relevant to the users of the systems and methods of the present invention.

[0075] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, all analyses described herein may be modified or combined in various manners and may take into account any data or factors relevant to the users of the methods and systems of the present invention, including as to aggregations of Item by various attributes such as, brands, color, price, gender, or the like.

[0076] As will be further appreciated by one of skill in the art, all analyses described herein may be performed, for example, by software 50.

[0077] In addition to the foregoing, in other embodiments the present invention comprise methods. In some embodiments the methods include methods of installing or configuring a system of the present invention in a manner that provides one or more of the functionalities or results described herein. In some embodiments, methods of the present invention relate to (a) methods of generating data regarding Items 60; (b) methods of managing, monitoring, or analyzing an inventory of Items; (c) methods of optimizing a store’s layout or optimizing the display or organization of Items 60 within a store or part of a store; or (d) methods of analyzing data generated by the systems of the present invention in any fashion described herein.

[0078] Figure 12 and Figure 13 each demonstrate an example of the methods of the present invention. In describing the methods of the present invention, one of skill in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the methods of the present invention may include one or more steps described in Figures 12 or Figure 13 or as otherwise described herein. In some embodiments, methods of the present invention need not be performed in the order the steps are listed or described herein. [0079] Figure 12 describes an example of a method for acquiring data generated by the systems of the embodiments of the present invention. Figure 12 depicts, steps 600, 610, 620,

630, 640, and 650. Of course, additional steps in accordance with the description herein may also be included in methods relating to data acquisition from the systems of the present invention or to the set-up of any system of the present invention. Figure 12 may also be understood as a flowchart for any processes used by software 50.

[0080] Figure 13 depicts an example of a method of the present invention for processing or analyzing data produced by a system or method of the present invention. Figure 13 depicts steps 700, 710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770, 780, 790, and 800. Figure 13 may also be understood as a flowchart for any processes used by software 50. Of course, additional steps in accordance with the description herein may also be included in methods relating to data analyses or processing of any data, including that produced by the methods and systems of the present invention.

[0081] It will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the above described embodiments and systems may comprise of a variety of inventory management systems or retail management systems. Fig.17 illustrates yet another exemplary embodiment of such a system. In Fig. 17, display 1701 is provided. Within display 1701, an integrally formed antenna is provided, which is illustrated as antenna 1703. Tagged objects 1705 are placed on the display. Alternatively, tagged objects 1705 may be placed near the display. In yet another alternative, tagged objects 1705 may be hung or otherwise affixed to the display. Consistent with the embodiments discussed above and using similar methods and apparatuses, tagged object 1705 broadcasts a signal illustrated as signal 1707. Signal 1707 is captured by antenna 1703. As already discussed above, when a customer picks up object 1705, for example to try it on, this interrupts signal 1707. The change in the availability of signal 1707 can be recorded by the system as is described in greater detail below.

[0082] Besides the customer, a retail associate may also move tagged objects. For example, a store clerk may wish to reorganize a display. The store clerk may be provided with a retailer tagged item 1711. For example, retailer tagged item 1711 may be a bracelet worn by the store clerk. It will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that a number of different items may be used as retailer tagged item 1711 without deviating from the scope of the inventive concepts described herein. For example, the retailer tagged item 1711 may be a pendant.

Alternatively, retailer tagged item may be an employee identification card modified to broadcast a signal. Item 1711 could alternatively be a pin worn by a retail associate. In sum, any object of sufficient size and dimensions that is not formed of a material that prohibits transmission of a signal may be used to form item 1711.

[0083] Retailer tagged item may emit signal 1713. In one embodiment, the retail management system will be able to discern when a sales clerk is moving tagged objects 1705 by detecting both a signal from tagged object 1705 and detecting signal 1713. As such, the system is able to distinguish between a customer trying on or moving tagged object 1705 from an instance when the store clerk moves it based on the presence of signal 1713. In particular, when signal 1713 is detected by antenna 1703, this is an indication to the system that a sales clerk is assisting a customer or is reorganizing tagged objects 1705 provided on display 1701.

[0084] Signal 1709 may be gathered signals 1707 and 1713, transmitted as a single, combined signal to receive interface 1715. Alternatively, interface 1715 may be configured to detect signal 1707 and signal 1713 independently. Regardless of how the signals are gathered, ultimately the signals will be passed from interface 1715 to database 1719 via interface 1717.

[0085] Database 1719 may perform a multitude of functions. In one instance, database

1719 includes secondary data associated with a tagged object. This secondary information may include price. This secondary information may alternatively include product information such as, a style, an associated SKU number, or other specific information related to a specific tagged object. Database 1719 may be controlled by a computational system 1721. It will now be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that unit 1721 may be any of a variety of known systems that allow for computational processing. Such computational unit 1721 may be able to digest data received from the system. For example, unit 1721 may be capable of producing data appropriate to display as a heat map based on movements of tagged objects 1705. Such information may be provided to a display 1723 via interface 1725. Display 1723 may be provided with data that displays information relevant to the tagged objects at a variety of granularity. [0086] As an example, display 1723 may be provided with object data. Object data used herein relates to commercial information on a specific tagged object 1705. For example, object data may be the frequency at which the system detects movement of a specific tagged object 1705 that is associated with a user trying that object on. Alternatively, or in addition, display 1723 may be configured to display data related to the overall display. For example, display 1723 may provide data related to a number of tagged objects 1705 in relation to one another on a specific display. For example, movement of different objects may be compared to one another and then provided as a heat map showing the frequency of which specific objects are moved on or near the display. Such information may be instructive with respect to the popularity of an object. Alternatively, such information may provide insight into the number of times objects are tried on when comparing objects on a single display.

[0087] It is also possible to aggregate data across multiple displays within a store. For example, where multiple tagged objects are provided over a multitude of displays within a store, this data may be aggregated to provide an indication of various consumer behavior in response to the position of the displays within the store. For example, using the data collected from multiple objects as described above, a merchant may determine the most likely placement of displays within the store to maximize the likelihood of converting try-ons to sales within a store. Such information may help guide a merchant’s decision on where to place displays within their store.

[0088] The object examples are further illustrated with respect to Figs. 18 and 19. In Fig.

18, tagged object data 1801 and retailer tagged item data 1803 associated with object data 1801 is fed into a comparator 1805. After adjusting the object data to compensate for any interaction with a store clerk, as illustrated by retailer tag data 1803, such information is fed into database 1809. Secondary data 1807 can be provided for each of the tagged objects and specifically for the tagged object associated with tagged object data 1801. Analysis of this data can be output as object data 1811. Such analyzed data may include, frequency of try-ons, frequency of purchase, or other commercially relevant information associated with a specific tagged object.

[0089] Data may also be aggregated to provide display or store level information. As illustrated in Fig. 19, tagged objects data 1901, 1903, and 1905 are associated with individual tagged objects provided on a display. Retailer tagged data 1907, 1909, and 1911, respectively associated with each of tagged object data 1901, 1903, and 1905, is provided to comparator 1912 in a manner similar to that described with respect to Fig. 18. Upon receiving the combined data for specific objects and specific interactions by the store clerk with such objects, this data is then fed into database 1915. Database 1915 may be simultaneously or previously provided with secondary data associated with each of the objects associated with tagged object 1901, 1903, and 1905. With this combined data, aggregated data may be provided aggregated data 1917.

[0090] Aggregated data 1917 may be, for example, data showing a single display and information related to the objects associated with data 1901 through 1905 discussed above. As an example, a heat map showing the likelihood of purchase of a single object out of a number of objects provided on a single display may be the aggregated data produced. As already discussed above, in the alternative, displays may be compared against each other. As an example, rather than represent a single object data, object data 1901 may be associated with all objects on a single display. Data 1907 may be all retailer interactions with the same. In such circumstances, when this data is fed to comparator 1912, the output is a display level data. Such data is then fed into database 1915 with corresponding secondary data 1913 associated with all the objects on a single display. Aggregated data 1917 may then represent the likelihood or purchase of a display in a store. When compared with other displays, for example, associated with object data 1903 and 1905, this would allow a merchant to discern which displays are the most likely to result in a customer purchasing an object. Such information may be helpful, for example, to allow a merchant to maximize the likelihood of purchase by reorganizing their displays within a store.

[0091] It will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that comparator 1805 or

1912 may be a combination of a computational device housing database 1809 or 1915, respectively. It will now be further apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that although secondary data 1807 or 1913 is shown in Figs. 18 and 19 as being directed to database 1809 or 1915, comparator 1805 or 1912 may be a generic processing or computation system capable of controlling the input of secondary data and further facilitate processing of this data to add or interface the data with database 1809 or 1915 without deviating from the scope of the inventive concepts discussed herein. It will also be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that although the systems and methods described with respect to Fig. 19 are directed to a single store, multiple displays provided in multiple stores may provide data for analysis. As an example of such an application, it will now be clear that a merchant could compare display placement and resulting commercial information, such as the number of conversions, between different store set ups where displays are provided in different physical locations. Such data would then provide guidance to the merchant and allow them to design the overall display placement in order to maximize sales using the analyzed data.

[0092] It will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments discussed here may be used with other technology in order to track and maintain commercial settings such as shops. With reference to Figure 20, it will now be clear that additional sensors may be incorporated to provide such information. Figure 20 illustrates a display 1701 with object 1705, as discussed with respect to Fig. 17, placed on sensors 2001. Sensor 2001 may be, for example, an optical sensor. Alternatively, or in addition, sensor 2001 may include a pressure switch. Alternatively, or in addition, sensor 2001 may include yet another type of sensing device such as a contact sensor.

[0093] Input from sensor 2001 may be gathered to provide additional information. Such information may include, for example, the removal of an object. Removal of object 1705 may be detected at the same time that an associate’s tag (e.g., tagged item 1711) is detected. In such an instance, it may be inferred that an associate is moving the object for a try-on session with a customer. Alternatively, if outside of normal operating business hours, it may be assumed that the associate is reorganizing or restocking a display.

[0094] In addition, Fig. 20 illustrates x-y-z axes sets 2003 and 2005. Axes 2003 and

2005 may be associated with a particular point on the display, e.g., a center of a plane of a face of one of sensor 2001 and a center of a plane of a face of another one of sensor 2001. With this additional information, further tracking of a specific object 1705 is possible. In particular, in conjunction with sensor data indicating the removal of a specific object 1705, the information obtained related to object 1705 described above using antenna, and the coordinates of the center of the plane for a specific sensor, e.g., axis set 2003, further commercial information may be derived.

[0095] Such additional commercial information may be used to guide a merchant’s placement of objects for sale on a display running in a floor to the ceiling orientation with the objects displayed perpendicular to the display and identify which objects still sell well even when located closer to the floor and below eye level. As an example, commercial information regarding a display having adult and children’s glasses frames can be improved by defining predetermined heights where a purchase is assumed for children versus adults if the glasses are selected from a portion of the display provided closer to the ground. If multiple displays are stacked in a shelf like configuration, and the axes sets x-y-z of sensors provided to products provided on the different levels of shelving are captured, e.g., as secondary data, additional commercial information may be obtained based on the number of times an object is selected and removed (and assumed purchased) or returned to the shelf. It will now be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that variations on improvements to the gathering of commercial information where axes sets are incorporated into the data known to the system is used to improve the resulting commercial information data.

[0096] When multiple displays 1701 are used within a store additional information may also be gathered. Figure 21 includes a typical store setup including multiple displays, a counter, and multiple sales associates. In Figure 21, sales associates 2101 are provided with tagged items 2103, 2105, and 2107, respectively. The associate 2101 having tagged item 2103 is located at or near counter 2109. Counter 2109, may be for example, a help desk or a checkout counter common in retail establishments. Counter 2109 may include reader 2111. When the retail associate wearing item 2103 approaches counter 2109, reader 2111 detects that signal of item 2103. In such an instance, the physical location of this associate is known and it can be assumed that this associate is dealing with customer issues and not interacting with displays 1701 or 1702. In contrast, the associate wearing band 2107 is detected near display 1701. As object 1705 is moved around display 1701, it may be assumed that the associate is restocking or assisting a customer with a try-on.

[0097] As already described with respect to Fig. 20 above, assuming sensors 2001 are also incorporated into the display set up for display 1701, additional information regarding the likely transaction or action by the associate can be determined. For example, if sensor 2001 detects that object 1705 is removed from display, and item 2107 is also in proximity to display 1701, then it may be assumed that the associate 2101 associated with the item 2107 is moving object 1705. [0098] The associate 2101 wearing item 2105 can also be detected outside of detection range of other displays. Additional sensors, such as receivers 2113 may be placed throughout the store and detect, for example, item 2105 and provide additional confidence in the assumption that the associate associated with item 2105 is not actively engaged with a display or objects provided thereon. Alternatively, or in combination, if item 2015 is active and not currently detected by a display 1701, then it may be assumed that the associate is not interacting with a display and is engaged in other activities. As such, additional commercial information may be derived by the fact that the associated wearing 2105 is not located near a display and is involved in other commercial activity.

[0099] Display 1702 also includes object 1705. In the situation illustrated in Fig. 21, object 1705 should be located on display 1701, not display 1702. As such, this information may be relayed to a store associate that an object has been misplaced. Again with reference to Figure 20, the misplaced object 1705 on display 1702 may also be detected by sensor information via sensor 2001. For example, if sensor 2001 is a pressure sensor capable of determining the weight of an object, it would be clear that object 1705 is not correctly positioned on display 1702, when the weight of object 1705 is not similar to the objects which are expected on display 1702. As a non-limiting example, if object 1705 is a loaf of bread and is placed on a display configured for coffee, the difference in the weight between the two dissimilar objects may be detected by sensor 2001 when the incorrect object is placed on the incorrect display for the object. It will also now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that sensor axes sets such as 2003 and 2005 can further enhance the ability of the merchant to detect misplaced objects that have not been returned to their proper display.

[00100] Figure 22 illustrates an alternative setup consistent with the embodiments described herein. Figure 22 illustrates a shop with multiple vendor displays gathered in a single store. In particular, displays 2201 are assigned to individual vendors and may hold a variety of different goods. In such an instance, it would be advantageous to be able to detect which of the various vendor’s products are being tried on or rearranged. A display 2204 having an integrated antenna capable of receiving signals and displaying objects 1705 consistent with the

embodiments described herein is also depicted. [00101] Figure 23 illustrates how such a system may be implemented using the methods and apparatuses described herein. Figure 23 includes a single display 2201. Display 2101 is outfitted with a rail system 2205. Rail system 2205 is similar in function to the antenna described above and is capable of detecting tagged objects placed on the display. In an exemplary embodiment, the rail system 2205 may completely encircle an area within display 2201 when objects 1705 are placed for display. Each person authorized to interact with display 2101 may be provided some form of interaction device, such as interaction device 2203.

Interaction device 2203 may be, for example, a smartphone with an app 2207 capable of doing near field communication reading. Alternatively, each vendor may be provided with a band, e.g., item 1711 illustrated in Fig. 17.

[00102] In certain instances, it may be advantageous to collect data on clients. As such, a client may also be given some form of interactive device 2203 in order to detect their interactions with the products themselves as they move through various vendor displays. Consistent with the embodiments, methods, and apparatus as described above, data is gathered and transmitted via element 2203 into a database 2209, similar to those described above. Database 2209 is capable of processing collected data, i.e., the movement of objects on the display. Database 2209 may also compile data related to secondary data of the objects. Database 2209 may also compile data related to the presence of an interaction device 2203 associated with a sales associate, and, in combination or in the alternative, a customer. After processing the data to resolve the movement of one or more objects on one or more displays, the database 2209 may output the data in a variety of granularities. For example, the data may be a single display, a single user, or other groups of interest. As an example, it may output vendor specific data for a specific display 2211. Alternatively, or in addition, the data generated by the database may demonstrate consumer behavior, i.e. the paths of various customers associated with one or more device with 2203 as they move throughout the store.

[00103] The embodiment discussed with respect to Figs. 22 and 23 is illustrative only and should not be read as a stand-alone embodiment divorced from the above described systems and methods. Instead, it will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods described with respect to Figs. 22 and 23 may be implemented using other

embodiments described herein. [00104] It will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other displays of captured data are possible. As an example, it will now be possible to track user movement within a store. For example, an associate’s typical path through the store over a work day may be mapped. Other examples of how to apply the above described embodiments without departing from the ideas and concepts discussed herein will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[00105] One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the various embodiments and preferred embodiments, which are presented in this description for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow. It is noted that equivalents for the particular embodiments discussed in this description may practice the invention as well.

[00106] While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various figures may depict an example configuration for the invention, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that may be included in the invention. The invention is not restricted to the illustrated example configurations, but the desired features may be implemented using a variety of alternative configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical configurations may be implemented to implement the desired features of the present invention. Also, a multitude of different constituent part names other than those depicted herein may be applied to the various parts or elements. Additionally, with regard to method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.

[00107] Although the invention is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead may be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the invention, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[00108] Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term“including” should be read as meaning“including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms“a” or“an” should be read as meaning“at least one,”“one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as“conventional,”“traditional,”“normal,” “standard,”“known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such

technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.

[00109] A group of items linked with the conjunction“and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as“and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction“or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as“and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

[00110] The presence of broadening words and phrases such as“one or more,”“at least,”

“but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives may be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, the figures and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular configuration.

[00111] Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives may be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, the figures and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular configuration.

[00112] In the preceding description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described exemplary embodiments. Nevertheless, one skilled in the art will appreciate that many other embodiments may be practiced without these specific details and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made.

[00113] Some portions of the exemplary embodiments described above are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a processor- based system. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. These quantities may take the form of electrical, magnetic, optical, or other physical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated, and are referred to, principally for reasons of common usage, as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Nevertheless, it should be noted that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the description, terms such as“executing” or“processing” or“computing” or“calculating” or“determining” or the like, may refer to the action and processes of a processor-based system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical quantities within the processor-based system’s storage into other data similarly represented or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

[00114] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Exemplary embodiments can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system - or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein - is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.

[00115] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which - when loaded in a computer system - is able to carry out these methods. Computer program means or computer program as used in the present invention indicates any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or, notation; and (b) reproduction in a different material form.

[00116] A computer system in which exemplary embodiments can be implemented may include, inter alia, one or more computers and at least a computer program product on a computer readable medium, allowing a computer system, to read data, instructions, messages or message packets, and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include non-volatile memory, such as ROM, Flash memory, Disk drive memory, CD-ROM, and other permanent storage. Additionally, a computer readable medium may include, for example, volatile storage such as RAM, buffers, cache memory, and network circuits. Furthermore, the computer readable medium may comprise computer readable information in a transitory state medium such as a network link and/or a network interface, including a wired network or a wireless network, that allow a computer system to read such computer readable information.