Activity detection at point of sale

A point of service (POS) system, comprising:

• with the POS system having an optical sensor device and an optical scanner device, with the optical sensor device being operable to capture successive images and having a field of view directed towards a first spatial region that includes a second spatial region associated with a scan by the optical scanner device of a visual object identifier code disposed on an object,
• wherein the POS system further includes a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the processing circuitry is configured to:
• receive, from the optical sensor device, a set of successive images associated with the first spatial region to enable detection of activity in the second spatial region;
• determine a first image difference based on current and previous successive images of the set of successive images;
• determine that the first image difference is less than a first inactivity threshold for each successive image obtained during a first time period;
• assign one of the successive images obtained during the first time period as a static image representing the first spatial region during a time in which inactivity is detected in the second spatial region;
• detect activity in the first or second spatial region based on the current and previous successive images and the static image;
• and
• determine that the detected activity corresponds to a scan, performed in or about the second spatial region, of a visual object identifier code disposed on an object.