A real sweetheart of a system

The potential market for machine vision outside of the current industrial manufacturing base is huge. What’s more, the opportunities for system replication – develop once, sell many times – are immense.

To prove my point, here’s a vision system designed to cut down on a particular type of retail theft known as “Sweethearting.” A camera monitors the checkout and image analysis software identifies abnormal patterns of behavior. Seems like an excellent idea and, I suspect, just the tip of the iceberg.

And as we bloggers look out for one another, I need to thank Joost Bonsen of “Maximizing Progress” for the link. Joost is an MIT alumnus who blogs on a wide range of topics, although generally with a technology theme. Definitely worth five minutes of your time, although it could easy stretch to 50!