Video traffic monitor for retail establishments and the like

A video traffic monitor for detecting and counting objects of measurement traversing a traffic zone in different directions, said video traffic monitor, comprising:

• a video imager positioned above a traffic zone to be monitored for object movement, said video imager producing an image of said traffic zone in the form of an analog signal;
• a signal converter coupled to said video imager for converting said analog signal into digital information representing said image;
• an image handler coupled to said signal converter for storing said image represented by said digital information at repetitive time intervals;
• and
• a processor coupled to said image handler for analyzing a window of said image, said window being a subset of said image and positioned and fixed in position during analyzing substantially across said image, said window including a linear array of gates consecutively positioned and fixed in position within said window and within said image during analyzing, each of said gates having a predetermined size relative to the size of an object of measurement, said processor analyzing said gates to determine whether an object of measurement is traversing said window and to determine a direction of movement transverse to said linear array of gates for said object of measurement across said window such that said processor counts said object as entering or exiting said traffic zone, said processor distinguishing objects of measurement traversing said window by examining consecutive gates which are occupied to determine whether the number of consecutive gates which are occupied corresponds to an individual object of measurement.

A method for detecting the traffic flow of objects of measurement traversing a traffic zone in different directions comprising the steps of:

• producing an image of said traffic zone;
• storing said image at repetitive time intervals;
• analyzing a window of said image being a subset of said image and positioned and fixed in position during said analyzing substantially across said image, said window including a linear array of gates consecutively positioned and fixed in position within said window and within said image during analyzing with each of said gates having a predetermined size relative to the size of an object of measurement;
• distinguishing objects of measurement traversing said window by examining consecutive gates which are occupied to determine whether the number of consecutive gates which are occupied corresponds to an individual object of measurement;
• determining a direction of movement transverse to said linear array of gates for said object of measurement traversing said window;
• and
• counting said object as entering or exiting said traffic zone.

A method for detecting the flow of objects of measurement across an image of a traffic zone having objects of measurement traversing said traffic zone, comprising the steps of:

• analyzing a window of said image being a subset of said image and positioned and fixed in position during said analyzing substantially across said image, said window including a linear array of gates consecutively positioned and fixed in position within said window and within said image during analyzing with each of said gates having a predetermined size relative to the size of an object of measurement;
• distinguishing objects of measurement traversing said window by examining consecutive gates which are occupied to determine whether the number of consecutive gates which are occupied corresponds to an individual object of measurement;
• determining a direction of movement transverse to said linear array of gates for said object of measurement traversing said window;
• and
• counting said object as entering or exiting said traffic zone.

A video traffic monitoring system for detecting the flow of objects of measurement across a plurality of traffic zones, comprising:

• a plurality of video traffic analyzers, each of said plurality of video traffic analyzers comprising a processor analyzing a window of an image of one of said plurality of traffic zones, said window being a subset of said image and positioned and fixed in position during analyzing substantially across said image, window including a linear array of gates consecutively positioned and fixed in position within said window and within said image during analyzing, each of said gates having a predetermined size relative to the size of an object of measurement, said processor analyzing said gates to determine whether an object of measurement is traversing said window and to determine a direction of movement transverse to said linear array of gates for said object of measurement traversing said window such that said processor counts said object as entering or exiting said one of said plurality of traffic zones, said processor distinguishing objects of measurement traversing said window by examining consecutive gates which are occupied to determine whether the number of consecutive gates which are occupied corresponds to an individual object of measurement;
• and
• a computer coupled to each of said plurality of video traffic analyzers, said computer storing and displaying numbers and directions of movement for said objects in each of said plurality of traffic zones.