Product recognition system prevents theft at self-service checkouts

The system saves time and prevents theft, but also reduces the need for wrapping and labelling individual fruits and vegetables.

Spotted: Australian start-up Tiliter has an automated product recognition system aimed at point-of-sale and self-service checkouts.

The system uses AI and computer vision to identify fresh produce, so cashiers and shoppers do not need to manually input price look-up (PLU) numbers. The system saves time and prevents theft, but also reduces the need for wrapping and labelling individual fruits and vegetables.

The company claims the technology can even tell the difference between varied products from the same family, such as a red delicious and royal gala apple, even through bags. Tiliter’s Vision System uses a state-of-the-art plugin camera and can be easily installed on any existing systems. The software operates locally, meaning that it does not need any internet connection. 

According to Tiliter co-founder Chris Sampson, “The big value for supermarkets is removing the significant loss seen from people entering the wrong information when using self-service checkouts. However, customers will also benefit by not needing to search through menus trying to identify the items they are purchasing.” The technology is currently being trialled across a number of independent grocers.

Tiliter joins a host of other recent innovations that are aimed at making grocery shopping and checkout faster and easier. These include an automated shopping platform that uses visual cognition technology and a digital cart to aid in-store shopping.