Systems and Methods for Observing the Movements of Passengers on Conveying Devices

摘要

According to the embodiments of the invention, methods and apparatuses are used for observing the movements of passengers on transport conveyors and presenting advertisements thereon. Steps on an escalator or other conveyer employ touch screens and/or detectors which determine the brand & style of a shoe placed on the step. An image-forming module projects advertisements and other media content onto a transparent glass surface that is viewable by the passengers. The media content is selectively displayed based on the brand and/or style of passengers' shoes. Passengers may interact with the media content via the touch screen by carrying out gestures with their feet. Passenger interest in certain ads is detectable and may be used for consumer research purposes.

主权项

1. An observation system to observe passengers on a conveying device to draw attention from the passengers while travelling on the conveying device based on detected interests of the passengers, comprising:
a set of contiguous, movable conveying steps, each with a touch screen sensitive to footsteps, where the each conveying step can carry a passenger to travel from a starting position to a destination; a shoe detector associated with each of the movable conveying steps, wherein a style and a brand of shoes worn by the passengers on the movable conveying steps is detectable; an image-forming module configured to provide media content which can be projected on a transparent side glass, wherein the media content is generated based on the style and brand of the shoes as detected by the shoe detector, taking into account sale items nearby; an interest detector for estimating a level of interest of passengers based on head movements and amount of time facing towards the media content; and a light projecting source mounted on each of the conveying steps such that the media content is projected by the light projecting source to the side glass that is adjacent to one side of the conveying device such that the media content is visible to the passengers travelling on the conveying device;
if the media content has drawn a threshold amount of interest from a particular passenger, as detected by an interest detector, further detailed information regarding the media content is generated and displayed to the particular passenger; andif little interest has been drawn by the particular passenger as detected by the interest detector, another piece of media content with similar styles or brands of shoes is generated and displayed to the particular passenger on the touch screen visible to the particular passenger.