DESC:SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME ADAPATIVE INTERACTIVE DIGITAL AISLE OF PRODUCTS

A) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent application claims the priority of the Indian Provisional Patent Application filed on April 13, 2019 and subsequently post-dated by 2 months to June 13, 2019 with the number 201941014949 and titled, "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME ADAPATIVE INTERACTIVE DIGITAL AISLE OF PRODUCTS ", the contents of which are incorporated herein by the way of reference.

B) TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention is generally related to a system and method for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers. The present invention is particularly related to a system and method for real-time adaptation of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle. The present invention is more particularly related to a system and a method for contextually adapting the sequence of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products displayed in the virtual aisle.

C) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In the traditional sense, artificial intelligence has made it possible to automatically position products to customers in an extremely large scale. Using data, which include, user preferences and other approaches such as identifying other users with similar preferences to a current user, templates are created to recommend a suitable product to a consumer. However, in many cases, such as in a retail store, the identity and the preference of the consumer is unknown.
[0003] Current, systems list a selection of available products through a hierarchical categorization of products, along with a set of filters in order to help consumers select a product they wish to purchase. However, the listing of the products themselves is mostly based on a pre-configured sequence, either by popularity, price or discounts. The listing does not change based on who the consumer is or the history of products considered by the consumer.
[0004] Though some of the current systems employ systems to predict products that are similar to products being considered by a consumer, they become relevant only when a product has already been selected and being considered by the consumer. Some of the current systems are also designed to predict products that customers are likely to purchase based on their history of purchase. However, these predictions are possible only when the consumer has a history of purchasing and not applicable for a first-time costumer with no data available on their preferences.
[0005] Hence, there is a need for a system and method to enable a digitally configured virtual aisle for adaptively rendering contextual choices of products to a consumer. There is also a need for a system and method to collect preferences from the consumer, directly and/or indirectly, in real-time and adapt a digitally configured virtual aisle based on a history of the consumer’s interest in products.
[0006] The above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

D) OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for contextually adapting the sequence of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products displayed in the virtual aisle.
[0009] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method to adapt the series of products rendered initially on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on a set of visual non-identifying attributes of the consumer.
[0010] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for adaptation of a digitally configured virtual aisle based on interactions of the consumer with the products displayed in the virtual aisle.
[0011] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method to enable real-time adaptation of products rendered on a first digitally enabled virtual aisle based on interactions of a consumer on a plurality of other digitally enabled virtual aisles that are connected to the first digitally enabled virtual aisle through wired or wireless means.
[0012] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide systems for identifying and collecting data on a plurality of interactions of a consumer with a digitally configured virtual aisle.
[0013] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for predictively determining a list of products to showcase to a consumer on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time data.
[0014] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

E) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for real-time adaptation of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle. The embodiments of the invention also provide a system and a method for contextually adapting the sequence of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products displayed in the virtual aisle.
[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the digitally configured interactive device for displaying the products as a virtual aisle is a portable digital system or a kiosk located in a specific geographic location. The kiosk includes an input module, a sensors module, an VR/AR/MR (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality) module, a digital display module, a joystick module and a communication module. The digital display module is configured to render a plurality of products available for purchase. The consumer is enabled to browse through the kiosk in order to choose products for purchasing. The kiosk is configured to display a smaller section of an entire virtual aisle, which is defined as a page of the view. At this point of interaction between the consumer and the kiosk, the consumer is prompted to provide a positive or a negative feedback on their interest in the product rendered on the kiosk. The kiosk comprises a plurality of sensors and input devices such as keyboard, touchpad, joystick, camera, microphone, touchscreen, virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality devices, motion capture and proximity sensors that are configured to receive and process the consumer’s feedback in a plurality of means, including visual, haptic, textual, digital and audio inputs.
[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the kiosk is configured to receiving consumer’s feedback through at least one of a plurality of actions including swiping on a touchscreen, taps on a particular preset area on the kiosk, digital inputs through a keypad and/or keyboard, a long view or gaze at a preset location on the kiosk, gestures using fingers such as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, head-nod/head-shake and voice commands.
[0018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the digitally configured device for displaying the products in a virtual aisle is at least one of a 3D virtual reality device, augmented reality device and mixed reality device. The embodiment further comprises a plurality of sensors and input devices such as keyboard, touchpad, joystick, camera, microphone, touchscreen, motion capture and proximity sensors that are configured to receive and process the consumer’s feedback in a plurality of means, including visual, haptic, textual, digital and audio inputs.
[0019] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for contextually adapting the sequence of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products displayed in the virtual aisle. The system comprises a computing module connect to a plurality of kiosks through wired or wireless means. The computing module further comprise an application interface module, a processing module, an affinity engine and a prediction engine. The inputs received through the kiosks are encoded and sent to the processing unit through the application interface unit, which is digitally stored in a local storage or a cloud storage. The processing unit is configured to learns these interactions of consumers with the kiosks and build affinities between the consumer and the plurality of products rendered on the kiosk. The affinities are also built based on history of interaction between a plurality of past consumers and the virtual aisle enabled by the kiosks. When the consumer interacts with the kiosk for moving to a different page view, an input is received form the consumer through the kiosk and communicated to the processing module. The processing module is configured to predict the most likely set of products that the consumer is interested to purchase through a prediction engine. The processing module is also configured to then render the next page view to the consumer through the kiosk, where the next page view is updated with the set of products that are predicted.
[0020] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for predicting a set of products contextually for a consumer to purchase and rendering the same on a digital display. The method includes the following steps: receiving a plurality of features from a consumer through the input devices and sensors on the kiosk; converting the received features into a first set of vectors, the consumer vectors, that uniquely describe the consumer; encoding the features of a product which the consumer selects on the kiosk into a second set of vectors, the product vectors, based on the frequency of the features among a plurality of products and the uniqueness of the features of the selected product (wherein the features of the product include a preset description of the product, an image of the product, a preset category of the product and a user-defined classification of the product); calculating affinities between the first set of vectors and the second set of vectors based on historical data of previous interactions between a plurality of consumer vectors and product vectors, wherein the calculated affinity is higher when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have preferred a set of product vectors, and the affinity is lower when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have not preferred a set of product vectors; augmenting the first set of vectors based on the affinity scores for a plurality of products and based on a plurality of consumer’s feedback obtained through the sensors module; and, rendering a plurality of products on the display module of the kiosk in a new page view, wherein the plurality of products are chosen from a set of product vectors that have a high affinity with the first set of vectors associated with the consumer.
[0021] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when a new consumer interacts with the kiosk for the first time, a new set of vectors is calculated for the consumer and the affinity to products is obtained from a group of consumer vectors that are similar to the new set of vectors calculated for the new consumer.
[0022] According to one embodiment of the present invention, multiple kiosks are connected to a centrally located computing module through wired or wireless means. The kiosks are configured to identify a consumer based on inputs received in the sensors module and contextually render a page of products with high affinity scores to the consumer’s vectors on the kiosk closest to the consumer and/or the kiosk on which the consumer’s attention is focused.
[0023] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating the preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

E) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:
[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for predicting a set of products a consumer is interested and rendering the same on a digital display, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an interactive device for displaying the products as a virtual aisle, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] Although the specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others. This is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

F) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] In the following detailed description, a reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0030] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for real-time adaptation of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle. The embodiments of the invention also provide a system and a method for contextually adapting the sequence of products rendered on a digitally configured virtual aisle based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products displayed in the virtual aisle.
[0031] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers. The system comprises a plurality of digitally configured interactive virtual aisle units and a computing module. The digitally configured virtual units are in form of kiosks, each of the kiosk further comprising an input module, a sensors module, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) module, a digital display module, a joystick module and a communication module. The computing module is connected to a plurality of kiosks through at least one of wired or wireless means. The computing module comprises an application interface module, a processing module, an affinity engine and a prediction engine.
[0032] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a digitally configured interactive virtual aisle unit is provided as a kiosk. The kiosk further comprises an input module, a sensors module, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) module, a digital display module, a joystick module and a communication module. The digital display module is configured to render a plurality of products available for purchase. The consumer is enabled to browse through the kiosk in order to choose products for purchasing. The kiosk is configured to display a smaller section of an entire virtual aisle, which is defined as a page of the view. The consumer is prompted to provide a positive or a negative feedback on their interest in the product rendered on the kiosk. The kiosk comprises a plurality of sensors and input devices such as keyboard, touchpad, joystick, camera, microphone, touchscreen, virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality devices, motion capture and proximity sensors that are configured to receive and process the consumer’s feedback in a plurality of means, including visual, haptic, textual, digital and audio inputs.
[0033] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the kiosk is configured to receiving consumer’s feedback through at least one of a plurality of actions including swiping on a touchscreen, taps on a particular preset area on the kiosk, digital inputs through a keypad and/or keyboard, a long view or gaze at a preset location on the kiosk, gestures using fingers such as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, head-nod/head-shake and voice commands.
[0034] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the computing module is configured for contextually adapting a sequence of products rendered on the digital display module on the kiosk based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products rendered on the kiosk. The inputs received through the kiosks are encoded and sent to the processing unit through the application interface unit. The data received is digitally stored in a local storage or a cloud storage. The processing unit is configured to learn the interactions of consumers with the kiosks and build affinities between the consumer and the plurality of products rendered on the kiosk, and wherein the affinities are also built based on history of interaction between a plurality of past consumers and the virtual aisle enabled by the kiosks. When the consumer interacts with the kiosk for moving to a different page view, an input is received form the consumer through the kiosk and communicated to the processing module. The processing module is configured to predict the most likely set of products that the consumer is interested to purchase through a prediction engine. The processing module is configured to then render the next page view to the consumer through the kiosk, where the next page view is updated with the set of products that are predicted by the computing module.
[0035] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers. The method includes predicting a set of products contextually for a consumer to purchase and rendering the same on a digital display. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a plurality of features from a consumer through the input devices and sensors on the kiosk; converting the received features into a first set of vectors, the consumer vectors, that uniquely describe the consumer; encoding the features of a product which the consumer selects on the kiosk into a second set of vectors, the product vectors, based on the frequency of the features among a plurality of products and the uniqueness of the features of the selected product (wherein the features of the product include a preset description of the product, an image of the product, a preset category of the product and a user-defined classification of the product); calculating affinities between the first set of vectors and the second set of vectors based on historical data of previous interactions between a plurality of consumer vectors and product vectors, wherein the calculated affinity is higher when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have preferred a set of product vectors, and the affinity is lower when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have not preferred a set of product vectors; augmenting the first set of vectors based on the affinity scores for a plurality of products and based on a plurality of consumer’s feedback obtained through the sensors module; and, rendering a plurality of products on the display module of the kiosk in a new page view, wherein the plurality of products is chosen from a set of product vectors that have a high affinity with the first set of vectors associated with the consumer.
[0036] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when a new consumer interacts with the kiosk for the first time, a new set of vectors is calculated for the consumer and the affinity to products is obtained from a group of consumer vectors that are similar to the new set of vectors calculated for the new consumer.
[0037] According to one embodiment of the present invention, multiple kiosks are connected to a centrally located computing module through wired or wireless means. The kiosks are configured to identify a consumer based on inputs received in the sensors module and contextually render a page of products with high affinity scores to the consumer’s vectors on the kiosk closest to the consumer and/or the kiosk on which the consumer’s attention is focused.
[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers. The system comprises a plurality of kiosks 101a, 101b,…,101n communicably coupled with a computing module 106. The computing module 106 further comprises an application interface module 102, a processing module 103, an affinity engine 104 and a prediction engine 105.
[0039] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for predicting a set of products contextually for a consumer to purchase and rendering the same on a digital display. The method includes the following steps: receiving a plurality of features from a consumer through the input devices and sensors on the kiosk (201); converting the received features into a first set of vectors, the consumer vectors, that uniquely describe the consumer (202); encoding the features of a product which the consumer selects on the kiosk into a second set of vectors, the product vectors, based on the frequency of the features among a plurality of products and the uniqueness of the features of the selected product, wherein the features of the product include a preset description of the product, an image of the product, a preset category of the product and a user-defined classification of the product (203); calculating affinities between the first set of vectors and the second set of vectors based on historical data of previous interactions between a plurality of consumer vectors and product vectors, wherein the calculated affinity is higher when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have preferred a set of product vectors, and the affinity is lower when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have not preferred a set of product vectors (204); augmenting the first set of vectors based on the affinity scores for a plurality of products and based on a plurality of consumer’s feedback obtained through the sensors module (205); and, rendering a plurality of products on the display module of the kiosk in a new page view, wherein the plurality of products are chosen from a set of product vectors that have a high affinity with the first set of vectors associated with the consumer (206).
[0040] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an interactive device for displaying the products as a virtual aisle, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The interactive device for displaying the products as a virtual aisle is provided as a digital kiosk 101, which comprises an input module 301, sensors module 302, a VR/AR/MR module 303, a digital display module 304, a joystick module 305 and a communication module 306.
[0041] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating the preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

G) ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0042] The present invention is related to a system and method for real-time adaptation of products showcased in a digital virtual aisle. The system is enabled as a digital kiosk that showcases products to customers. The system is also configured to be rendered as an e-commerce website or mobile application that lists products for sale. The present invention enables a consumer to make a purchase a product they need with minimal interaction with the kiosk and at a lesser time compared to conventional methods. The system provides highly relevant and contextual product suggestions by predicting and correlating the consumer’s needs with the list of available products. The present invention maximizes the probability of the consumers finding the right set of products by providing suitable product suggestions in real-time.
[0043] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such as specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments.
[0044] It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modifications. However, all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.
,CLAIMS:CLAIMS
What is claimed is:
1. A system for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers, the system comprising:
a plurality of digitally configured interactive virtual aisle units, wherein the digitally configured virtual units are in form of kiosks, each of the kiosk further comprising an input module, a sensors module, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) module, a digital display module, a joystick module and a communication module; and,
a computing module, wherein the computing module is connected to a plurality of kiosks through at least one of wired or wireless means, and wherein the computing module comprises an application interface module, a processing module, an affinity engine and a prediction engine.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein a digitally configured interactive virtual aisle unit is provided as a kiosk, and wherein the kiosk further comprises an input module, a sensors module, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) module, a digital display module, a joystick module and a communication module, and wherein the digital display module is configured to render a plurality of products available for purchase, and wherein the consumer is enabled to browse through the kiosk in order to choose products for purchasing, and wherein the kiosk is configured to display a smaller section of an entire virtual aisle, which is defined as a page of the view, and wherein the consumer is prompted to provide a positive or a negative feedback on their interest in the product rendered on the kiosk, and wherein the kiosk comprises a plurality of sensors and input devices such as keyboard, touchpad, joystick, camera, microphone, touchscreen, virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality devices, motion capture and proximity sensors that are configured to receive and process the consumer’s feedback in a plurality of means, including visual, haptic, textual, digital and audio inputs.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the kiosk is configured to receiving consumer’s feedback through at least one of a plurality of actions including swiping on a touchscreen, taps on a particular preset area on the kiosk, digital inputs through a keypad and/or keyboard, a long view or gaze at a preset location on the kiosk, gestures using fingers such as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, head-nod/head-shake and voice commands.

4. The system according to claim 1, a computing module is configured for contextually adapting a sequence of products rendered on the digital display module on the kiosk based on real-time interactions between the consumer and the products rendered on the kiosk, and wherein the inputs received through the kiosks are encoded and sent to the processing unit through the application interface unit, and wherein the data received is digitally stored in a local storage or a cloud storage, and wherein the processing unit is configured to learn the interactions of consumers with the kiosks and build affinities between the consumer and the plurality of products rendered on the kiosk, and wherein the affinities are also built based on history of interaction between a plurality of past consumers and the virtual aisle enabled by the kiosks, and wherein when the consumer interacts with the kiosk for moving to a different page view, an input is received form the consumer through the kiosk and communicated to the processing module, and wherein the processing module is configured to predict the most likely set of products that the consumer is interested to purchase through a prediction engine, and wherein the processing module is configured to then render the next page view to the consumer through the kiosk, where the next page view is updated with the set of products that are predicted by the computing module.

5. A method for enabling a digitally configured virtual aisle that provides a digital shopping experience for consumers, wherein the method includes predicting a set of products contextually for a consumer to purchase and rendering the same on a digital display, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of features from a consumer through the input devices and sensors on the kiosk;
converting the received features into a first set of vectors, the consumer vectors, that uniquely describe the consumer;
encoding the features of a product which the consumer selects on the kiosk into a second set of vectors, the product vectors, based on the frequency of the features among a plurality of products and the uniqueness of the features of the selected product (wherein the features of the product include a preset description of the product, an image of the product, a preset category of the product and a user-defined classification of the product);
calculating affinities between the first set of vectors and the second set of vectors based on historical data of previous interactions between a plurality of consumer vectors and product vectors, wherein the calculated affinity is higher when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have preferred a set of product vectors, and the affinity is lower when a group of consumer vectors similar to the first set of vectors have not preferred a set of product vectors;
augmenting the first set of vectors based on the affinity scores for a plurality of products and based on a plurality of consumer’s feedback obtained through the sensors module; and,
rendering a plurality of products on the display module of the kiosk in a new page view, wherein the plurality of products is chosen from a set of product vectors that have a high affinity with the first set of vectors associated with the consumer.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein when a new consumer interacts with the kiosk for the first time, a new set of vectors is calculated for the consumer and the affinity to products is obtained from a group of consumer vectors that are similar to the new set of vectors calculated for the new consumer.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein multiple kiosks are connected to a centrally located computing module through wired or wireless means, and wherein the kiosks are configured to identify a consumer based on inputs received in the sensors module and contextually render a page of products with high affinity scores to the consumer’s vectors on the kiosk closest to the consumer and/or the kiosk on which the consumer’s attention is focused.