Alert notification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016148147-A1
Application number	US-201414553663-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 25, 2014
Priority date	Nov 25, 2014
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for alerting an employee or agent of a retailer regarding an unfavorable condition may include the use of computer-aided visual recognition of products to aid in identifying the location of the unfavorable condition. A user can direct a mobile computing device camera at one or more targeted products displayed on store shelves. Image recognition operations can be carried out to compare the targeted product image(s) against images from a prepopulated product image store of known products. Upon a positive match, shelf location information of the identified targeted product(s) may be used to determine the current location of the user. The employee or agent may be alerted with respect to the unfavorable condition and the location thereof.

First claim

What is claimed:

1 . A computer-implemented method for generating an alert regarding an unfavorable condition, comprising:
receiving, at a processing device of a notification server, a first alert signal transmitted from a user's mobile computing device; receiving, at the processing device, one or more signals from the mobile computing device corresponding to one or more images of a targeted product; determining, at the processing device, if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at a product image store; if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at the product image store, recalling, from a store map database, information regarding an in-store location of the targeted product; defining a condition location based on the in-store location of the targeted product; and transmitting, from the processing device, a second alert signal to an agent's computing device, the second alert signal including the condition location.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the in-store is selected from the group consisting of: an aisle number, a bay number, a display number, a shelf number, a location coordinate, and combinations thereof.

3 . The method claim 1 , wherein determining, at the processing device, if the one or more images of the targeted product matches the at least one image stored at the product image store comprises:
comparing, at the processing device, the one or more images of the targeted product to the at least one image stored at the product image store, thereby resulting in a comparison score; determining, at the processing device, if the comparison score meets a minimum score threshold.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the unfavorable condition is selected from the group consisting of a criminal act, a spill, and a depleted product stock.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first alert signal was triggered by observation of the unfavorable condition by a user of the mobile computing device.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, at the processing device, if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at the product image store further comprises applying a feature detection algorithm to the one or more images of the targeted product.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein applying the feature detection algorithm to the one or more images of the targeted product comprises carrying out a Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) feature detection algorithm.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, at the processing device, if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at the product image store further comprises:
splitting the one or more images of the targeted product into multiple constituent images and comparing each of the multiple constituent images to the at least one image stored at the product image store.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting, from the processing device, the second alert signal to the agent's computing device further comprises transmitting an image depicting the unfavorable condition.

10 . A method for generating an alert regarding an unfavorable condition, comprising:
receiving, at a processing device, a targeted product image from a mobile computing device; if the targeted product image matches a known product image, recalling, from a store map database, information regarding an in-store location corresponding to the known product image; defining a condition location based on the in-store location; and transmitting, from the processing device, an alert signal to an agent, the alert signal including the condition location.

11 . A computer-implemented system for generating an alert regarding an unfavorable condition comprising:
a notification server comprising a memory device and a processing device, the memory device storing computer-readable instructions directing the processing device to: receive a first alert signal transmitted from a user's mobile computing device; receive one or more signals from the mobile computing device corresponding to one or more images of a targeted product; determine if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at a product image store; if the one or more images of the targeted product matches at least one image stored at the product image store, recalling, from a store map database, information regarding an in-store location of the targeted product; define a condition location based on the in-store location of the targeted product; and transmit a second alert signal to an agent's computing device, the second alert signal including the condition location.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the information regarding the in-store location is selected from the group consisting of: an aisle number, a bay number, a display number, a shelf number, a location coordinate, and combinations thereof.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the processing device to:
compare the one or more images of the targeted product to the at least one image stored at the product image store, thereby resulting in a comparison score; determine if the comparison score meets a minimum score threshold.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the unfavorable condition is selected from the group consisting of a criminal act, a spill, and a depleted product stock.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first alert signal was triggered by observation of the unfavorable condition by a user of the mobile computing device.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the processing device to apply a feature detection algorithm to the one or more images of the targeted product.

17 . The system of claim 16 wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the processing device to carry out a Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) feature detection algorithm.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the processing device to:
split the one or more images of the targeted product into multiple constituent images and compare each of the multiple constituent images to the at least one image stored at the product image store.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the processing device to transmit an image depicting the unfavorable condition.

Assignees

• Wal Mart Stores Inc

Inventors

• Gupta Ankit
• Shah Saurav
• Sowdaboina Venkata Pranay Kumar

Classifications

• G06Q10/063114 Primary

  Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G07G3/00

  Alarm indicators, e.g. bells · CPC title

• G06Q20/208

  Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing · CPC title

• G06Q30/06

  Buying, selling or leasing transactions · CPC title