Softlogic Information Technologies
Electronic Shelf Labels
An electronic shelf label (ESL) modules use electronic paper (E-paper) or liquid-crystal display (LCD) to show the current product price to the customer. E-paper is widely used on ESLs as it provides crisp display and supports full graphic imaging while needing no power to retain an image. A communication network allows the price display to be automatically updated whenever a product price is changed. This communication network is the true differentiation and what really makes ESL a viable solution. The wireless communication must support reasonable range, speed, battery life, and reliability. The means of wireless communication can be based on radio, infrared or even visible light communication. Currently, the ESL market leans heavily towards radio frequency-based ESL solutions with additional integrations.
Facial Recognition and Analytics
Facial recognition is the process of identifying or verifying the identity of a person using their face. It captures, analyzes, and compares patterns based on the person’s facial details.
a. The face detection process is an essential step as it detects and locates human faces in images and videos.
b. The face capture process transforms analog information (a face) into a set of digital information (data) based on the person’s facial features.
c. The face match process verifies if two faces belong to the same person.
Today it’s considered to be the most natural of all biometric measurements and a facial recognition system is capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces, typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, works by pinpointing and measuring facial features from a given image. While initially a form of computer application, facial recognition systems have seen wider uses in recent times on smartphones and in other forms of technology, such as robotics. Because computerized facial recognition involves the measurement of a human’s physiological characteristics facial recognition systems are categorized as biometrics.
QR Code based Tracking
Originally, QR codes were created for inventory management. From storage facilities and warehouses to consumer locations, QR codes easily manage product information and keep updating them in real-time. They have huge information storage capacity and can encode different types of data. They eliminate the use of scanners which are bulky and manual data entries which are prone to human errors. QR code needs a smartphone that one can use from any location at any time.
QR code is an efficient way to keep track of inventory. In a supermarket, when a product QR code is scanned, it is immediately reflected in the inventory thus updating the records within fraction of seconds in a flawless manner. Similarly, while returning a product, tracking it with the QR code helps in easy retrieval of product details.
This means you can record and track details as small as raw materials, date of production, serial number, history and action preformed on the product at each stage. This can give complete traceability about each product and hence it is easy to track if anything goes wrong at any stage from manufacturing to distribution.
Smart POS
“Smart terminal” has actually been around in the payment industry since the emergence of the first smart card, i.e., chip (EMV) card. An EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) card has an embedded chip acting as a security token for the card machine to verify electronically. Terminals processing such cards with an inbuilt microprocessor – which could also use NFC (Near-Field Communication) and other contactless technologies – are referred to as ‘smart terminals’ regardless of how they look.
Today’s smart terminals may have both a touchscreen and physical keypad for PIN entry, or just a touchscreen (or two). The familiarity of a standard PIN pad puts some customers at ease, as it is still unusual for many to enter a PIN code directly on a screen.
The software features available to the terminals are offered through the manufacturer’s own Android-based app market, usually with the option to integrate other software or build new applications for the terminals.
Examples of features include offers displayed on the terminal screen, customer loyalty functions, barcode scanning, product library and registration of parcel deliveries for couriers.
Most smart POS terminals can still be integrated with a POS system, external barcode scanner and other equipment if you need it.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be defined as a system that fulfills three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive (i.e. additive to the natural environment), or destructive (i.e. masking of the natural environment). This experience is seamlessly interwoven with the physical world such that it is perceived as an immersive aspect of the real environment. In this way, augmented reality alters one’s ongoing perception of a real-world environment, whereas virtual reality completely replaces the user’s real-world environment with a simulated one. Augmented reality is related to two largely synonymous terms: mixed reality and computer-mediated reality.
Chat Bots
A chatbot is a software application used to conduct an on-line chat conversation via text or text-to-speech, in lieu of providing direct contact with a live human agent. Designed to convincingly simulate the way a human would behave as a conversational partner, chatbot systems typically require continuous tuning and testing, and many in production remain unable to adequately converse or pass the industry standard Turing test. Most chatbots are accessed on-line via website popups or through virtual assistants. They can be classified into usage categories that include: commerce (e-commerce via chat), education, entertainment, finance, health, news, and productivity.