How Body Heat May Someday Help Consumers Pick Lines

Finding the fastest checkout line to stand in is often a heat-of-the-moment decision. Perhaps it makes sense, then, that a new app is using heat to guide that decision.

ZipLine, which debuted last week at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, was designed by Cambridge Consultants and relies upon a two-part system, explains CNET, to get shoppers checked out of stores faster.

The first part of the ZipLine technology, reports the outlet, requires infrared body heat sensors in-store — which communicate with each other via a low-power radio network — that scan checkout lines to determine how many people are in each one and how fast they are moving. The second part employs an algorithm of the sensors’ collected data and transmits it to a smartphone app that guides the user to the most optimal line based upon said data.

The CNET story notes that the ZipLine technology maintains consumer privacy (as the sensors rely solely upon body heat and no other identifying information) and that the sensors — as they use radio communication — can be spread out over notable distances to simultaneously provide information on lines that aren’t all in the same location.

Furthermore, shares the outlet, the technology’s potential application isn’t limited to checkout lines, as it could also be used in areas like taxi lines and lines for rides at amusement parks.

One more possible use of ZipLine that CNET puts forth is monitoring the efficiency of employees.

“While this tech could feasibly help employers monitor their register operators, the same could be said for many lines of work,” a representative of Cambridge Consultants told the outlet. “For example, a company that has drivers in the field with GPS could monitor productivity through the GPS. It’s up to each individual company to determine how they’d like to use this information.”

CNET adds that while no stores had yet agreed to install ZipLine, the representative commented that Cambridge Consultants is “having some interesting conversations” about that.