14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, led by Stephan Richter, believe that Kinect controllers may be used with a high degree of efficiency for counting customers making their way into stores.
The system, which produces an infrared laser beam grid to measure depth, may also have applications in tracking customers as they move around the store. In turn, this could help business owners improve their sales, and become more efficient marketers.
Using CCTV cameras for these applications is considered to be an invasion of privacy, so that is forbidden in many countries. However, using a Kinect to look at someone's shoes cannot be considered an invasion of privacy.
The data collected in this manner can help business managers figure out what their clients are doing inside the store, what products they are looking at and so on, New Scientist reports.