Tech firm hacks Kinect for shopper analytics

In Agile Route’s video demos (here and here) the Kinect sensor is shown affixed to the top of a shelf rack, angled downwards to cover the area immediately in front of the shelf.

The sensor recognises when a shopper enters the tracking zone and can follow their movements as they reach out to pick up items from the store shelf.

Not only does Kinect track movements, it also measures depth and distance – so it is able to work out which of a number of different shelves within a rack space a shopper might be reaching for.

Data outputs include traffic flow analysis, time spent at shelf, product traction analysis, shelf heat maps and heat maps of conversion rates for each product.