HK1106603B - Methods and systems for gathering market research data within commercial establishments - Google Patents

Description

Method and system for collecting market research data within a commercial establishment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a market research method and system that collects data within a commercial establishment relating to the presence of panelists (panel) in different locations.

Background

Commercial establishment managers such as retail stores, shopping centers, transportation centers, and the like are responsible for maximizing the sales of products and services, and they are well aware that the layout of their facilities has a real impact on sales volume. To assess this effect, data characterizing customer traffic (traffic) entering and within the facility must be collected. These data will reveal that there are more frequently locations for customers ("hot spots") and those locations where customer traffic is less ("cold spots").

With this information, it is possible for an administrator to make changes to features that affect accessibility, lighting, shelf spacing, product placement, and the like, which will increase product exposure and reduce the number and/or size of cold spots. After making such changes, managers often wish to conduct a flow study to assess the effectiveness of the changes.

Tracking data, as well as product placement data, is also important to the distributors of products sold in commercial establishments. This information enables them to assess whether their products are sufficiently noticeable in the retail store to justify the cost of shelf space. This information also enables them to assess whether they should request shelf space at different locations in the store for their products.

Traditionally, such flow studies have been performed manually. One or more employees of the manager will record the movement of the customer within the facility on a form representing the layout thereof. The accumulated data will then be reviewed by the administrator. Clearly, this method of collecting such data is very labor intensive. Employees who track customers can also potentially bother customers if they are not so scattered.

It is therefore desirable to provide a less expensive and potentially less intrusive method of collecting such flow data. In addition, managers of commercial establishments, as well as manufacturers and distributors, want to obtain reports in order to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising spending based not only on such traffic data, but also on media exposure data and the like.

Disclosure of Invention

The following terms and definitions shall be used in the present invention:

the term "data" as used herein means any indicia, signals, symbols, domains, symbol sets, representations, and any other physical form or forms representing information, whether permanent or temporary, visual, audible, acoustic, electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic or explicit. The term "data" as used to represent predetermined information in physical form should be considered to encompass any and all representations of the same predetermined information in one or more different physical forms.

The term "media data" as used herein means data that can be widely accessed via wireless, cable, network, internetwork (including the internet), distributed on storage media, or including without limitation audio, video, text, images, animation, web pages, and streaming media data, regardless of form or content.

The term "database" as used herein means an organization of related data, regardless of the way in which the data or its organization is represented. For example, the organizational body of the related data may be in the form of a table, a graph, a grid, a list, or any other form.

The term "location" as used herein means a location relative to a commercial establishment, a product display, a product, another object or facility, or a location relative to a coordinate system such as a latitude and longitude.

The term "map" as used herein means a database of data representing locations in a business.

The term "network" as used herein includes a wide variety of networks and interconnected networks, including the Internet, which is not limited to any particular network or interconnected network.

The terms "first" and "second" are used to distinguish different elements, sets, data, objects, or things, but are not used to designate relative positions or temporal arrangements.

The terms "coupled," "coupled," and.. coupled "as used herein mean the relationship between or among two or more devices, apparatuses, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, and/or apparatuses, respectively, that constitute one or more (a) connections, either directly or via one or more other devices, apparatuses, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or apparatuses; (b) a communicative relationship, either directly or via one or more other devices, apparatuses, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, and/or (c) a functional relationship, wherein the operation of any one or more of the devices, apparatuses, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means is dependent, in whole or in part, on the operation of any one or more of the other portions.

The term "communication" (nouns and verbs) as used herein includes transferring data from a source to a target and delivering data to a communication medium, system or link for transfer to a destination.

The term "processor" as used herein means processing devices, apparatus, programs, circuits, systems and subsystems implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

The terms "memory" and "data storage" as used herein mean data storage devices, apparatus, programs, circuits, systems, subsystems, and storage media that are used to temporarily or permanently retain data and provide such retained data.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study. The method comprises the following steps: providing a signal transmitter at a predetermined location within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit a location signal associated with the location; providing each participant of a plurality of market research participants with a wireless receiver adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants and operable to receive a respective location signal when it is in the vicinity of each location; associating the time data with respective position signals corresponding to times of receipt thereof; and storing the received respective location signals and the associated time data within the wireless receiver for market research.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study. The system comprises: a plurality of signal transmitters provided at predetermined locations within the commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations; and a plurality of monitors, each adapted to be carried by one of the market research participants, wherein each monitor comprises: a wireless receiver operable to receive a respective position signal when in proximity to each position, a clock for generating time data associated with each respective position signal when received by the wireless receiver, and a memory coupled to the wireless receiver and the clock for storing the received respective position signal and the associated time data within the wireless receiver for retrieval and use in market research.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for collecting data representative of customer behavior in a commercial establishment. The method comprises the following steps: providing a map representing a plurality of locations within a commercial establishment; providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of panelists participating in a customer behavior study for wearing thereby; collecting panelist presence data in a portable monitor, the data indicating the presence of respective panelists at some of the identified locations within the commercial establishment; and associating the presence data of the panelist with the plurality of locations represented by the layout map.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a relational database is provided for storing data representing customer behavior in a business. The relational database comprises a first table storing a plurality of first records, each first record comprising a first field storing wireless transmitter data representing a respective one of a plurality of wireless transmitters provided in the commercial establishment and operable to transmit corresponding transmitter data; each first record further includes a second field storing location data indicative of a location of a respective one of the plurality of wireless transmitters in the retail store; and a second table for storing a plurality of second records, each second record including a first field representing a customer participating in a customer behavior study by carrying the portable monitor and a second field representing a corresponding one of the plurality of wireless transmitters from which the portable monitor received corresponding transmitter data being transmitted.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for collecting market research data. The method comprises the following steps: providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of panelists participating in a market research study for wearing thereby; generating presence data within the portable monitors of a plurality of panelists to indicate their presence at a plurality of locations within at least one commercial establishment; and generating media data exposure data within the portable monitors of the plurality of panelists to indicate their exposure to the media data. According to yet another aspect of the invention, a relational database is provided for storing data indicative of customer behavior in a business establishment. The relational database includes a first table storing a plurality of first records, each first record including: a first field for storing location data identifying a location within the establishment, a second field for storing coordinate data representing coordinates of the location in a predetermined coordinate system; and a second table storing a plurality of second records, each second record comprising: a first field for indicating a customer who participates in a customer behavior study by carrying a portable monitor, and a second field for indicating coordinates of a customer's position in a predetermined coordinate system. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study, comprising: providing a signal transmitter at a predetermined location within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit a location signal associated with the location; providing each of a plurality of market research participants with a wireless receiver adapted to be carried by one of the participants and operable to receive a respective location signal when in proximity to each location; collecting, in the wireless receiver, data representing exposure of a respective plurality of participants to one of media data and outdoor advertising; associating time data with each respective position signal corresponding to its time of reception; and storing the received respective location signals and associated time data within the wireless receiver for market research. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study, comprising: a plurality of signal transmitters provided at predetermined locations within the commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations; and a plurality of monitors, each adapted to be carried by a person of one of the market research participants, wherein each monitor comprises: a wireless receiver operable to receive respective location signals when in proximity to each location, a clock for generating time data associated with each respective location signal when the wireless receiver receives the location signals, and a memory coupled to the wireless receiver and the clock for storing data representing exposure of the participant to one of the media data and the outdoor advertisement and the received respective location signals and associated time data within the wireless receiver for retrieval and use in market research. According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of collecting data representative of customer behaviour in a commercial establishment, comprising: providing a map representing a plurality of locations within the establishment, wherein each location includes a signal transmitter to transmit a location signal associated with the location; providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of panelists participating in a customer behavior study for wearing thereby; collecting panelist presence data in a portable monitor, the data indicating the presence of a corresponding plurality of panelists at identified locations within the commercial establishment, wherein said presence data further includes data indicating exposure of the corresponding plurality of panelists to one of media data and outdoor advertisements; and associating the presence data of the panelist with the plurality of locations represented by the layout chart.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a retail store storefront illustrating certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an aisle schematic of the retail store of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a table of a relational database in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method and system for measuring exposure of panelists participating in a customer behavior study to a promotional display in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of certain embodiments of signal emitters and portable monitors arranged to be carried by panelists participating in a consumer behavior study, according to certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates the use of the portable monitor of FIG. 5 to measure exposure of a panelist carrying the portable monitor to a media display in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system for downloading data collected by the portable monitor of FIG. 5 to a centralized processor;

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another table of a relational database including the tables of FIG. 3, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 9 provides a block diagram of some embodiments of a position signal emitter and a portable monitor that uses an inertial monitoring device to track its position.

Detailed description of certain advantageous embodiments

The present invention is useful for monitoring the presence and/or movement of customers in a wide variety of commercial establishments, but is particularly useful for gathering such data in retail stores to perform traffic research and/or exposure to advertising and promotional campaigns. Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a storefront of a retail store 10 having an entrance 20 and a plurality of shelves 24 including shelves for products for sale. The brackets 24 define a passageway 28 therebetween.

The portable monitor 32 is carried by a panelist participating in a market research study and is used to track the presence and movement of the panelist into and within the retail store (as well as other such retail stores and/or other commercial establishments participating in the study). As illustrated in FIG. 1, when a panelist enters a retail store at portal 20, a portable monitor 32 carried by the panelist receives a location signal from a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter 36 positioned proximate portal 20. The one or more location signal frequencies may be selected from any licensed frequency band (up to and including microwave frequencies).

The location signal contains data from which the presence of a panelist at the portal can be determined. In some embodiments, such data includes an emitter identification code that uniquely identifies emitter 36. In certain embodiments, the establishment identification code is transmitted by the transmitter along with the transmitter identification code. This transmitter identification code and the commercial establishment identification code (if any) are stored in a database, wherein the data is associated with data identifying the location of the transmitter at the entrance to the retail store. In other embodiments, the location signal contains data that directly or indirectly identifies the location. In still other embodiments described below, the establishment identification code is provided to monitor 32 for storage therein from another source, such as a separate wireless transmitter.

The strength of the transmitted location signal, and the sensitivity of monitor 32, are selected to ensure that monitor 32 only detects the data included within the location signal when it is sufficiently close to the identified location for research purposes. In certain advantageous embodiments, either or both of the intensity of the location signal and the monitor sensitivity are selected to ensure that the monitor 32 only detects data in the location signal when it is placed within a predetermined area to be monitored, such as a predetermined area where a particular product or product display can be perceived by a panelist. When monitor 32 detects data included in the position signal, it stores the data or data based on the data and stores a time stamp indicating the time of receipt of the data.

Still referring to FIG. 2, after a panelist has entered the store and proceeds to walk into an aisle with shelves 38 on the side for different products for sale, the panelist enters the range of the transmitter 40. The portable monitor 32 carried by the panelist then detects the data included in the further location signal from the transmitter 40 and stores it along with a time stamp indicating the time of detection of the further location signal. Referring particularly to fig. 2, it can be seen that the transmitter 40 has been placed in proximity to the particular product offered for sale, here indicated as a hypothetical product-ChampsChomp dog food. If the panelist wanders near emitter 40, this indicates that the panelist may be interested in purchasing nearby products.

Thus, monitor 32 periodically or from time to time checks for detection of data included within the same or different position signals. If the data for this further location signal is again detected, monitor 32 also stores data indicating the duration of the sequential presence of the panelist in the vicinity of transmitter 40.

Fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a table that stores location data and commercial establishment identification data detected by monitor 32 from different location signals, and also stores time stamps indicating the time of detection of the data and the duration of successive detections of the same data. In the exemplary table of fig. 3, each row represents a record of data detections from the corresponding transmitter, here represented as a transmitter ID and a monitor ID (corresponding to the panelist to whom a particular monitor has been assigned), the time at which data from that transmitter was first detected and the duration of continuous detection of data from such transmitter. In certain other embodiments, the data detected by the monitor is not stored with a monitor ID, which is not associated with other stored data until it has been downloaded from the monitor 32.

When a panelist enters a retail store via portal 20, portable monitor 32 stores data, an example of which is first record 44 of the table of fig. 3, whenever data included within the location signal received from transmitter 36 is detected. In the embodiment of fig. 3, each transmitter transmits a signal including location data as well as commercial establishment data (here indicated as an imaginary retail store, ED mall). In other embodiments, a separate transmitter transmits the commercial establishment data. In some embodiments, the commercial establishment data directly identifies the commercial establishment, while in other embodiments, the commercial establishment data is used to access or derive such identification. In certain embodiments, the business data relates to the business, with or without directly or indirectly identifying it. In some embodiments, the identity of the commercial establishment in which the location signal transmitter is located is determined based solely on previously stored data associating the transmitter ID with the store or other establishment in which it is located. Returning to record 44 of fig. 3, this recorded detection duration is indicated to be less than 5 seconds. The second record 48 stores data detected by the monitor 32 in the vicinity of the transmitter 40. Here, the record indicates that the panelist stayed for 20 seconds, indicating that he was interested in Champs Chomp dog food in Ed mall.

Yet another record 52 of the table of FIG. 3 represents data collected by the monitor when a panelist pauses near the transmitter 56 near the end of the shelf 24 as shown in FIG. 1. Fig. 4 illustrates the emitter 56 mounted on an in-store product display 60 of the hypothetical soft drink product, Double Whamy cola. As shown in fig. 4, the product display 60 is used to draw attention to the product 66 it carries or includes. While the panelist remains at the product display 60, the monitor records data indicating the duration of time the panelist is in proximity to the product display, which provides an indication of its effectiveness in attracting the attention of the customer.

Referring again to FIG. 1, as the panelist proceeds to another aisle, the monitor 32 detects data included in the location signal from the transmitter 70 placed on that aisle, evaluating the flow therethrough to detect whether the aisle is a "cold spot" in the store. The detected data is stored by the monitor 32 in a record such as the exemplary record 74 shown in FIG. 3.

After this, the panelist pauses near another transmitter 78 that inspects the product, as indicated by record 82 in FIG. 3. Shortly thereafter, the panelist proceeds to a store checkout (not shown for simplicity and clarity) to pay for the selected product, and then exits the store as indicated by record 86 in FIG. 3.

Fig. 5 provides a block diagram of some embodiments of portable monitor 32, and a block diagram 86 of some embodiments of transmitters 36, 40, 56, 70, and 78. In the diagram 86, an RF transmitter 90, an antenna 94, a code modulator 98, a proximity detector 102, a power switch 106, and a power supply 110 are packaged and carried within a container 104. Preferably, the container 104 is small or unobtrusive so that it is not noticeable by the panelists, and thus does not affect their behavior. In some embodiments, the transmitter is included in a thin laminate that can be imperceptibly attached to the bottom of the merchandising display stand. In other embodiments, they are mounted in a small housing or encapsulated in molded plastic.

In the transmitter embodiment 86, power from the power supply 110 is applied only to the RF transmitter 90 and the code modulator 98 when the proximity detector 102 detects a person approaching the transmitter 86 and turns on the power switch 106, which is normally in an off state. The proximity detector 102 senses a selected one or more forms of data indicating the presence or proximity of a person, such as a change or level of infrared, heat, light or electrical energy, and provides a switching signal to the power switch 106 to turn it on. In some embodiments, an external switch is employed to turn on the power source, such as a pressure-sensing switch activated by the panelist's footstep or a doorway switch actuated by opening a door or passing through a doorway. Preferably, power switch 106 remains on long enough to ensure that a detectable position signal is transmitted to any monitors 32 carried by nearby panelists, so that power from source 110 is conserved to ensure continued operation of transmitter 86. For example only, in some embodiments, the power switch is continuously applying power for 30 seconds after receiving the switching signal and then automatically resets to the off state, so the position signal is continuously transmitted during the 30 second period. In some embodiments, the transmitter has two operational states, a standby without transmission, a low power mode, and a transmit mode with transmission. In such embodiments, the switch 106 or other circuitry switches the transmitter from the standby mode to the transmit mode when a person is detected as being in proximity.

The RF transmitter 90 drives the antenna 94 to transmit RF location signals in a suitably selected frequency band, which may be selected to be any licensed RF frequency band up to and including microwave frequencies. In some embodiments, RF transmitter 90 generates a position signal in the unlicensed 900MHz band and at a sufficiently low power level that its data can only be detected by monitor 32 within a relatively short range.

The position signal includes data that is generated by the code modulator 98 and applied by the code modulator 98 to the RF transmitter 90 as a modulated signal. In some embodiments, this data represents the identification of the transmitter itself, while in other embodiments it directly represents the location of the transmitter 86 or the store or other establishment. The position signal may be modulated in any manner consistent with the detection capabilities of portable monitor 32, such as amplitude, frequency, pulse, or phase modulation, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the data is simply represented by the frequency of the position signal, so a separate code modulator is not required. In some embodiments, the data modulates the position signal to produce a periodically repeating code. Such codes may be repeated, for example, every 10 seconds during the transmission of the location signal, however a different repetition rate may be selected depending on the amount of data that must be transmitted and the detection error rate of the personal detector 32 within the desired detection zone.

The power supply 110 is selected to be able to provide sufficient power for a desired duration, such as the duration of a market study. In some embodiments, the power source 110 is selected to be a rechargeable battery, a non-rechargeable battery, an energy storage device, a photovoltaic power source, and/or a different energy-accepting device such as an antenna that receives energy from the portable monitor 32 or other external source.

In some embodiments, the RF transmitter 90 transmits the location signal periodically, rather than as long as a person is detected in proximity to the transmitter 86. In other embodiments, RF transmitter 90 also transmits the location signal in response to an interrogation signal transmitted from a transmitter (not shown for simplicity and clarity) included within portable monitor 32. In some embodiments, the transmitter is an RFID tag that receives a read signal from the monitor 32, uses the energy of the received read signal to encode its data and retransmits the encoded data as a location signal. In embodiments employing such RFID tags, it is advantageous to selectively turn on the monitor as little as possible to transmit such a read signal because the relatively large amount of energy that the monitor 32 must transmit excites the RFID tag to retransmit a detectable location signal. To this end, in some embodiments, a transmitter is provided in or near the commercial establishment to turn on the monitor to transmit the readout signal.

In some embodiments, one or more RF energy transmitters separate from the monitor 32 are placed in or near a store or other commercial establishment to emit RF energy to be received by one or more nearby RFID tags in order to energize them to transmit their codes. When a panelist carrying a monitor 32 comes within range of one of such RFID tags, the monitor detects its code and stores the appropriate data. In some embodiments, the rf energy transmitter is continuously transmitting rf energy. In other embodiments, the radio frequency energy transmitter emits radio frequency energy periodically, from time to time, at certain times, or during certain time periods. In still other embodiments, the rf energy transmitter emits rf energy whenever a person or the presence of the monitor 32 is detected.

In other embodiments, transmitter 86 employs a different type of wireless transmitter, such as an infrared, visible, or acoustic transmitter, in place of RF transmitter 90. To this end, a suitable acoustic position code transmitter is disclosed in U.S. published patent application 20030171833a1 to Jack c.

Fig. 5 also provides a block diagram of an embodiment of portable monitor 32, portable monitor 32 including RF receiver 114, antenna 118, microphone 122, condition circuit 126, processor 130, memory 134, coupling device 136, and housing 138 that includes all of the foregoing elements of portable monitor 32. Preferably, the housing is sufficiently small so that the portable monitor 32 can be carried in or on an article of clothing worn by the panelist, such as a belt, purse, or worn on the panelist's wrist or elsewhere. In some embodiments, housing 138 is equipped with a clip, coil, necklace, bag, pin or other device (not shown for simplicity and clarity) to secure or attach monitor 32 to such an article of clothing or to a panelist's wrist, neck or elsewhere. In some embodiments, the housing 138 is sized and shaped similar to a pager or cellular telephone. In some embodiments, housing 138 is sized and shaped similar to a credit card or smart card so that it can be placed in a panelist's pocket or purse or hung on a key fob. In still other or related embodiments, the housing 138 takes the form of a watch, wristband, cardcase, key fob, wallet, piece of jewelry or other decorative or useful article, or is adapted to be carried by or attached to one or more of the aforementioned articles.

The RF receiver 114 has an input coupled to the antenna 118 for receiving the position signal and is operable to detect data therein and to provide the data to the processor 130 in a form suitable for input at an output coupled to the processor 130. Preferably, receiver 114 is operated only periodically or from time to time in order to conserve power in portable monitor 32. For example, in certain embodiments, the receiver 144 is turned on for 10 seconds during the repeating 30 second interval.

When transmitter 86 transmits the position signal in a different form, such as infrared or visible light, in other embodiments of portable monitor 32, wireless receiver 114 and antenna 118 are replaced by an appropriate light sensor and conditioning circuitry coupled to the light sensor and operable to detect and provide the data included within the position signal in an appropriate form to processor 130. When transmitter 86 instead transmits a sonic position signal, in some embodiments of portable monitor 32, microphone 122 and conditioning circuitry 126 are used to receive the position signal and provide it in a suitable form to processor 130. In some such embodiments, processor 130 is configured to detect data included within the acoustically transmitted location signals.

The processor 130 is also operable to store detected position data with a timestamp generated by the processor 130 or by a separate clock (not shown for simplicity and clarity). When the processor continues to receive the same location code, in some embodiments it generates duration data indicating the duration of successive receptions of the same location data and stores it in association with the location data and the timestamp. In certain other embodiments, when the processor no longer continues to receive the same location data, it stores an end timestamp representing the point in time instead of storing the duration data. In still other embodiments, the processor simply stores each detection of location data with a corresponding timestamp associated therewith.

The embodiment of portable monitor 32 illustrated in fig. 5 is also used to monitor exposure of panelists to media data having acoustic components such as radio and television broadcasts, prerecorded content, and streaming media. In certain embodiments, this is accomplished by processing the acoustic data received by the microphone 122 in the processor 130. The processor 130 analyzes the acoustic data to detect the presence of ancillary codes therein or to extract signatures therefrom that can be used to identify or characterize the media data. Suitable analytical techniques are disclosed in published U.S. patent application 20030005430a1 to Ronald s. The monitor 32 stores such media data exposure data in the memory 134 along with a time stamp indicating the time at which it was exposed. Preferably, the time stamps are obtained from the same source that stores the indicating data (indicating that the position data was detected), so that the time stamps are all on the same predetermined time base.

In some embodiments, the establishment signal is transmitted to the monitor 32 by a transmitter other than the transmitter employed in FIG. 1 to indicate a particular location within the store 10 or other establishment. In some embodiments, such transmitters for transmitting commercial establishment signals (including data such as store identification data, store location data, or other data indicative of the commercial establishment) comprise RF transmitters, and in other embodiments comprise optical signal transmitters that transmit infrared or visible light.

In still other embodiments, an acoustic transmitter is employed to transmit commercial establishment signals. An embodiment of such an acoustic transmitter is illustrated in fig. 5 as acoustic transmitter 112. Acoustic emitters 112 are positioned to emit acoustic energy such as broadcast, streaming or reproduced audio (e.g., music) and/or public address audio (such as announcements to shoppers) within a commercial establishment such as store 10. Such audio sources are represented by the device 116 of the transmitter 112.

The sonic transmitter 112 also includes an encoder 120 that receives audio from the source 116 and encodes commercial establishment data therein. The encoder 120 evaluates the ability of the received audio to mask it as it is encoded and to generate or adjust the energy level, frequency, phase and/or other characteristics of the data to be encoded or encoded so that the code is not audible when the audio is reproduced as sound. The encoded audio is output by the encoder 120 to the speaker 124, and the speaker 124 emits the encoded audio as acoustic energy.

In certain embodiments, the encoder 120 comprises an encoder disclosed in U.S. patent application No. 10/302,309 to James m.jensen and Alan r.neuhauser, and/or an encoder disclosed in U.S. patent No. 5,764,763 to James m.jensen et al, both assigned to the assignee of the present application and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

In certain embodiments, the audio provided from source 116 is already encoded with the commercial establishment signal, such as by encoding the audio and storing it for later reproduction. In still other embodiments, the acoustic transmitter does not encode the audio signal, but rather samples the surround acoustic energy to assess its ability to shield the commercial establishment signal, and emits a commercial establishment signal with appropriate characteristics to ensure that the surround acoustic energy will shield it. As mentioned above, embodiments of such acoustic emitters are disclosed in U.S. published patent application 20030171833a 1.

In some embodiments of the present invention that employ acoustic transmitters to transmit location signals and/or commercial establishment signals, personal monitor 32 employs microphone 122 to receive such acoustic signals and to detect data therein by way of processor 130. In certain such embodiments, as described above, the processor 130 advantageously employs the detection techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,763 to detect data encoded in a variety of different acoustic signals.

In certain embodiments, acoustic transmitters are employed to emit location signals at various different locations throughout the establishment and are also employed to transmit establishment signals. In such embodiments, it is possible that no RF receiver need be used in the monitor 32. In some such embodiments for monitoring the presence of a panelist at or near a small commercial establishment, such as a kiosk in a shopping mall, an acoustic transmitter is employed to transmit acoustic signals in the vicinity of the commercial establishment, the acoustic signals including commercial establishment data identifying or relating thereto. When a panelist carrying a monitor 32 approaches such a commercial establishment and approaches close enough that the panelist can perceive it or the products or services it provides, the monitor 32 detects and stores the commercial establishment data to record the panelist's presence.

In some embodiments where the location transmitters 36, 40, 56, 70, and 78 comprise acoustic transmitters, the acoustic transmitters transmit acoustic signals comprising location data and commercial establishment data to the monitor 32, and the monitor 32 detects and stores both data from the received acoustic signals. In certain advantageous embodiments, as described above, both location data and commercial establishment data are encoded and detected according to the techniques disclosed in U.S. patent application No. 10/302,309. In this type of encoding technique, the location data and the commercial establishment data are transmitted repeatedly, but each time with a different duration. The monitor 32 employs two accumulators, which are two different registers, respectively, whose lengths are selected to accumulate the location data and the establishment data, respectively. Although each data component is accumulated in both registers, the register with a length selected to accumulate the position data will additively accumulate the component of the position data without accumulating the corresponding component of the commercial establishment data, and thus the commercial establishment data will appear as noise in this register.

In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 is used to monitor exposure to media presentations in outdoor settings such as highways, railways, and walkways, and/or in indoor settings such as malls, subways, railway stations, bus stations, airports, and building lobbies. Fig. 6 illustrates the use of monitor 32 for this purpose, particularly to monitor exposure of panellists carrying portable monitor 32 to billboard advertising, which is shown in fig. 6 as advertising 140 of a hypothetical dog food product. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the RF transmitter 144 drives the antenna 148 to transmit the billboard proximity signal at a power level selected to ensure that the billboard proximity data included in the signal is only detectable by the portable monitor 32 when the portable monitor 32 is positioned such that the billboard advertisement is viewable by the panelist therefrom. The billboard proximity data is stored by the monitor 32 along with a time stamp indicating the time of exposure of the billboard advertisement 140. Preferably, the time stamps are obtained from the same source that stores the indicating data (indicating that the position data was detected), so that the time stamps are all on the same predetermined time base.

In some embodiments, the receiver 114 of the portable monitor 32 is arranged to receive the billboard proximity signal and detect the billboard proximity data therein. In other embodiments, a different wireless receiver is included in monitor 32 for this purpose. Other embodiments of media presentation exposure monitoring devices suitable for use with monitor 32 are disclosed in Jack k. zhang, Jack c. crystal, and James m. jensen, U.S. patent application No. 10/329,132, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Still other embodiments of media presentation exposure monitoring devices suitable for use with monitor 32 are disclosed in Jack k. zhang, Jack c. crystal, James m. jensen, and Eugene l. flanagan III, U.S. patent application No. 10/640,104, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Fig. 7 illustrates a system for communicating data stored in personal monitors 32 and other personal monitors 32 assigned to other members of the same family acting as panelists in the same study to a centralized processor 166 for use in generating interest reports to store managers, distributors, producers, other advertisers, media organizations, and the like. In some embodiments, each panelist in the household connects its portable monitor 32 to the respective base station 150, 154 from time to time or periodically to download the data stored in the portable monitor. The monitor 32 communicates with the base station by means of a coupling device 136 (see fig. 5), which in some embodiments is an opto-electric coupling device. In some embodiments, the monitor communicates with the base station by means of an RF transceiver or other wireless transceiver (not shown for simplicity and clarity) without connecting the monitor to the base station. This communication is initiated by the monitor 32 or base station 150, 154 periodically, at predetermined times, or from time to time. In certain other embodiments, portable monitor 32 includes a wireless network transceiver (not shown for simplicity and clarity) to establish a wireless link 164 to communication network 162 for downloading data using the WiFi protocol or other wireless network protocols. In other embodiments, the portable monitor 32 includes a cellular telephone module (not shown for simplicity and clarity) that establishes a wireless link with the telephone network for downloading data.

Once the data has been downloaded, the memory 134 of the monitor 32 is reset to store additional data. For example, the base stations may be those disclosed by Brooks et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,276, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The base stations 150, 154 communicate with a communication hub 158, also located in the home, the communication hub 158 being used to communicate with a centralized processor 166 located remotely from the home via a network 162. The centralized processor 166 likewise receives data from the other panelists' households to generate reports, as described above.

The centralized processor 166 stores the received data in one or more databases that it accesses to generate such reports. Referring now to fig. 3 and 8, a relational database is described for storing downloaded data collected by monitors 32 in a variety of different commercial establishments and for generating reports relating to customer behavior in such commercial establishments. Fig. 8 illustrates a table 170 that stores records identifying various transmitters 86 (fig. 5) for customer behavior studies by transmitter ID, as well as stores the establishment (the store in the figure) where the transmitter is located and the specific location of the transmitter. For example, row 174 of table 170 provides an exemplary record of a transmitter having an ID of "9562" installed in an imaginary retail store near the entrance of the store in the Ed mall of Bayville.

The form 170 also provides data identifying products or promotional displays at certain transmitter 86 locations, as well as the distributor or manufacturer of such products or promotional displays. For example, row 178 of FIG. 8 provides an exemplary record of a transmitter having a transmitter ID of "8723" installed in a hypothetical retail store as described above and providing a location in the store for a hypothetical product on sale, Champ's Chomp dog food. The record of row 178 also identifies the manufacturer or distributor of the product, here indicated as a hypothetical business entity, Dog's Best Friend. Similarly, the form 170 includes many other such records for the respective transmitters identified by their transmitter IDs and indicating their store locations, in-store locations and store owners or customers, as appropriate, the products or promotional displays at such locations, and their distributors or manufacturers. It should be noted that all customers or store owners, as well as the products and their corresponding producers or distributors listed in table 170, are fictitious and are used only to illustrate exemplary records.

In some embodiments, the table of FIG. 8 is compiled from data provided by personnel installing transmitters in the various different commercial establishments participating in the study. In some embodiments, the data is provided in written form by such personnel to the data entry clerk who filled out the form 170 of FIG. 8. In some embodiments, the data entry clerk instead records the location of the previously installed wireless transmitter, thereby recording the distinctive data provided. Such previously installed transmitters include wireless communication devices that are installed with smart partitions. The intelligent shelf is used to collect data about the products placed thereon for inventory control and to communicate such data, along with the identification of the intelligent shelf, to the data collection system of the establishment. Certain embodiments of the present invention use identification data that is wirelessly transmitted from the smart shelf. Some embodiments also collect data about the products placed on the smart partitions for use in filling out the "products" field of the form of FIG. 8. Preferably, the data is compiled in a table from records transferred from portable electronic devices owned by persons installing or recording transmitters in different participating institutions. Suitable electronic devices are disclosed for this purpose in U.S. patent application No. 10/800,883 to Jack k.

As noted above, FIG. 3 illustrates a table that records the detection of various emitters 86 by monitor 32, and also records the time each emitter is detected and the duration of time that the same emitter position signal is continuously detected. The table of fig. 3 and the table of fig. 8 include a relational database that provides the ability to map exposure of panelists to different product and promotional displays within participating commercial establishments, as well as the ability to assess traffic through participating commercial establishments. There is thus the possibility of generating reports of various types useful to the managers of such commercial establishments, as well as to the distributors and producers of their products for sale in the commercial establishments.

In some such reports, the presence/exposure data of FIG. 3 and the data of FIG. 8 are processed to estimate the frequency, duration, and density of customer exposures to different locations, products, and promotional displays within each participating establishment, which may or may not be based on time of day. With the aid of the table of fig. 8, such data is readily presented by the same data on the organization's overlay layout, and the product identification and promotional material at the corresponding location are also readily presented on the same map as an overlay corresponding to the frequency, duration and density of the above-described exposure data, thereby enabling store managers, producers and distributors to assess the exposure of different products and promotional material in the store or other organization. Thus, it is possible to formulate placement recommendations for products and promotional materials in retail stores based on such reports.

It is also possible to generate traffic reports with the same data to enable store managers to determine "hot spots", and "cold spots", locations within their commercial establishments. Thus, store managers can assess whether their organization layout should be changed to increase customer traffic and increase exposure to product and service offerings.

As described above, in certain embodiments of personal monitor 32, not only is such data collected, but data indicative of exposure to media data, such as television and radio broadcast exposures as well as media presentation exposures, whether indoors or outdoors, is also collected. Thus, the system and method of the present invention provides integrated data that measures not only customer behavior within a commercial establishment, but also exposure of such customers to media data and thus delivered advertisements. It is thus possible to assess the impact of a predetermined individual's exposure to advertisements on their behaviour in a commercial establishment, particularly in terms of their interest in a particular product that may be promoted by such advertisements.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, yet another embodiment of a system and method for monitoring the presence and movement of panelists within a commercial establishment will now be described. In certain embodiments, receiver 114 of portable monitor 32 receives one or more signals from one or more wireless transmitters within or near the commercial establishment, but which are not associated with a particular location within the commercial establishment, and generates location data indicative of the location of portable monitor 32 within the commercial establishment based on the received signals. In other embodiments, monitor 32 includes a GPS receiver (not shown for simplicity and clarity) to obtain such location data in the form of latitude and longitude. In certain advantageous embodiments, the monitor employs an assisted GPS positioning system.

In certain other embodiments, the portable monitor transmits a signal that is received by one or more receiving devices within or proximate to the commercial establishment to determine the location of the portable monitor. In still other embodiments, the portable monitor includes a cellular telephone module (not shown for simplicity and clarity) in communication with the cellular telephone system to obtain data therefrom indicative of the location of the portable monitor 32 based on signals received from the cellular telephone module. Such location data is provided as latitude and longitude or in another usable form. In other embodiments, portable monitor 32 generates the location data using at least one of the following techniques: angle of arrival (AOA) techniques, time difference of arrival (TDOA) techniques, Enhanced Signal Strength (ESS) techniques, location fingerprinting techniques, and ultra-wideband positioning techniques. Each of these techniques will now be briefly described.

Angle of arrival (AOA) techniques determine the direction of a signal received from a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter. This can be done by assigning a directional antenna along the line of maximum signal strength. Alternatively, the signal direction may be determined from the difference in arrival times of the input signals at different antenna elements. Binary antennas are typically used to cover ± 60 degree angles. A six-element antenna may be used in order to achieve 360 degree coverage. However, a single mobile directional antenna can only give the direction (bearing) of the transmitting target and not the position.

However, because the two directional antennas are well separated, the position of the transmitting device in the plane can be calculated. With this method, also known as angle of arrival (AOA), the transmitter position is determined from the known (fixed) position of the receiver antenna and the angle of arrival of the signal relative to the antenna. In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 includes a transmitter that enables its position to be determined according to an angle-of-arrival method.

Time difference of arrival (TDOA) techniques are based on a similar concept, i.e. the time difference of arrival between signals received at different location antennas can be used to determine location. Given the speed of light and knowing the transmit and receive times, the distance between the transmitter and receiver antennas can be calculated. In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 includes a transmitter that enables its location to be determined according to a time difference of arrival technique.

In an alternative time difference scheme, the monitor and antenna exchange roles: the antenna is a transmitter and the portable monitor 32 includes a receiver. This technique is known as Forward Link Trilateration (FLT). This is relatively simple to implement in some Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) wireless systems, where the time difference of arrival can be determined by the phase difference between the 0 and 1 pseudorandom noise code sequences transmitted from the two antennas. In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 includes a receiver, such as a CDMA cellular telephone receiver, that enables its location to be determined according to forward link trilateration methods.

When the term "time difference of arrival technique" is used herein, the term is meant to encompass both the traditional time difference of arrival (TDOA) method and the Forward Link Trilateration (FLT) method.

The Enhanced Signal Strength (ESS) method improves upon conventional signal strength methods by overcoming such multipath effects, fading, and antenna direction obstacles. The method involves ingesting three-dimensional information about objects, walls, and other features and obstructions within the establishment, and using such information to simulate the RF signal propagation characteristics of wireless transmit antennas in the area. The location system center stores the results in an RF database. The location of the portable monitor is determined by having it measure the signal strength of preferably three to five base station transmitters. By this input, plus information from the database, the system can calculate the location of the portable monitor. Within large commercial establishments, such as shopping malls and department stores, where appropriate base station transmitters are located, the location of the portable monitor can be determined by means of the ESS method. In certain embodiments, the portable monitor 32 includes a receiver that enables its location to be determined according to the ESS method.

Instead of using signal timing or signal strength, location fingerprinting techniques rely on the structural characteristics of the signal. The technique converts multipath phenomena into good applications by combining multipath models with other signal characteristics, thereby creating a signature that is unique to a given location. The location fingerprinting system includes a signal signature database for a location grid of a particular area. To generate this database, the device is caused to pass through the area where signals are transmitted to or received from the monitor site. The system analyzes the incoming signal, compiles a unique signature for each square in the location grid and stores it in a database.

To determine the location of a mobile transmitter or receiver, the system matches the transmitter or receiver signal signature to an entry in a database. Although multipoint signal reception is preferred, it is not required. The system may use data from a single point to determine location. In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 includes a transmitter or receiver that enables its location to be determined according to location fingerprinting techniques.

In some ultra-wideband positioning techniques, a network of positioners determines relative positions in three-dimensional space by measuring the propagation time of a pseudo-random sequence of electromagnetic pulses. The propagation time is determined by a correlator which provides an analog pseudo-autocorrelation function sampled in discrete-time binary symbols (bins). The correlator has a number of integrators each providing a signal proportional to the time integral of the product of the expected pulse sequence delayed by one discrete time binary symbol and the received undelayed antenna signal. Using pattern recognition, the time of arrival of the received signal can be determined to be in a time much less than the interval between binary symbols.

In some ultra-wideband technologies, wireless ultra-wideband transceivers are placed at known fixed locations within the area to be monitored, and the portable monitor 32 includes a wireless ultra-wideband receiver/processor that receives one or more timed pulses from various different transceivers and resolves the location of the portable monitor within the monitored area based on the location of the ultra-wideband transceiver and the time of flight measurements of the one or more pulses. In some embodiments, portable monitor 32 comprises an ultra-wideband transmitter, and a plurality of interactive receivers at fixed locations receive pulses from the transmitter of portable monitor 32 to determine its location. In some embodiments, the fixed transceivers or receivers are coupled by cables, while in other embodiments they are via wireless connections.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a system in the form of a module for measuring exposure of panelists to media data and media presentations and for monitoring the presence and movement of the panelists within a commercial establishment in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention is illustrated. In fig. 9, elements corresponding to those in fig. 5 have the same reference numerals: similar to the system shown in fig. 5, the system of fig. 9 includes a portable monitor 204 arranged to be carried by a panelist. Portable monitor 204 receives one or more signals from one or more terrestrial and/or satellite sources and generates data indicative of the location of portable monitor 204. In some embodiments, as described above, the signals used for this purpose are obtained from a cellular telephone system or from a GPS or assisted GPS receiver. However, in the system of fig. 9, the position data is provided by the inertial monitoring device 200 forming part of the portable monitor 204, and the received signals are used to provide position calibration data to the inertial monitoring device. Such calibration, described in more detail below, may be performed periodically or from time to time, or whenever signals are received from terrestrial and/or satellite sources.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the inertial monitoring device 200 of the portable monitor 204 is calibrated by means of calibrating the signals transmitted by one or more calibration transmitters 86 in or near the commercial establishment in which the movements of the panelist wearing the monitor are tracked. Advantageously, in some embodiments, the one or more calibration transmitters are positioned at an establishment exit or entrance through which the panelist must pass to enter or exit the commercial establishment. The calibration signal is transmitted at a sufficiently low power to ensure that it is received only when the portable monitor is close.

Preferably, the inertial monitoring device is small in size and light in weight. An advantageous embodiment of such an inertial monitoring device employs micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS) as gyroscopic sensors and/or accelerometers to provide data from which the position of the monitor can be determined.

In certain embodiments, to calibrate inertial monitoring device 200, portable monitor 204 employs satellite technology, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and/or server-assisted GPS technology, and/or terrestrial technology, such as angle of arrival (AOA) technology, time difference of arrival (TDOA) technology, Enhanced Signal Strength (ESS) technology, location fingerprinting technology, and/or ultra-wideband location technology.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to particular arrangements of parts, features and the like, this is not intended to be exhaustive of all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many other embodiments, modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art.

Claims (10)

1. A method for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study, comprising:

providing a signal transmitter at a predetermined location within a commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit a location signal associated with the location;

providing each of a plurality of market research participants with a wireless receiver adapted to be carried by one of the participants and operable to receive a respective location signal when in proximity to each location;

collecting, in the wireless receiver, data representing exposure of a respective plurality of participants to one of media data and outdoor advertising;

associating time data with each respective position signal corresponding to its time of reception; and

the received corresponding location signals and associated time data are stored within the wireless receiver for market research.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the time data and the location signal to generate data indicative of movement of the particular participant in the establishment over time.

3. A system for monitoring the presence and/or movement of participants in a market research study, comprising:

a plurality of signal transmitters provided at predetermined locations within the commercial establishment to wirelessly transmit location signals associated with the locations; and

a plurality of monitors, each adapted to be carried by a person of one of the market research participants, wherein each monitor comprises:

a wireless receiver operable to receive a respective location signal when in proximity to each location,

a clock for generating time data associated with each respective position signal when the wireless receiver receives the position signal, an

A memory coupled to the wireless receiver and the clock for storing data representing exposure of the participant to one of the media data and the outdoor advertisement and the received respective location signals and associated time data within the wireless receiver for extraction and use in market research.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising a processor provided with time data and location signals for comparing the time data and location signals to generate data indicative of movement of the particular participant in the establishment over time.

5. A method of collecting data representative of customer behavior in a commercial establishment, comprising:

providing a map representing a plurality of locations within the establishment, wherein each location includes a signal transmitter to transmit a location signal associated with the location;

providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of panelists participating in a customer behavior study for wearing thereby;

collecting panelist presence data in a portable monitor, the data indicating the presence of a corresponding plurality of panelists at identified locations within the commercial establishment, wherein said presence data further includes data indicating exposure of the corresponding plurality of panelists to one of media data and outdoor advertisements; and

the presence data of the panelist is associated with a plurality of locations represented by the layout.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein collecting data representative of customer behavior in the establishment comprises: location-indicating data wirelessly transmitted in a portable monitor is received representing a plurality of locations within a commercial establishment.

7. The method of claim 5 including providing time data defining a time base within each portable monitor and associating the time data with the panelist presence data received in the portable monitor.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising collecting, in the portable monitor, media exposure data indicative of exposure of the respective plurality of panelists to the media data, and associating the time data with the media exposure data.

9. The method of claim 7, comprising collecting in the portable monitor outdoor advertising data indicative of exposure of the respective plurality of panelists to outdoor advertising, and associating the time data with the outdoor advertising data.

10. The method of claim 5, comprising associating data representing the offering and/or offering display with a selected one of the plurality of locations represented by the layout map.