Smart Shelves

Abstract

A method may include obtaining a weight of merchandise supported by a shelf and obtaining identifier data of the merchandise supported by the shelf The identifier data may be wirelessly received from tags associated with the merchandise. The method may also include determining information for presentation to a consumer regarding the merchandise based on the weight of the merchandise and the identifier data of the merchandise. The method may also include providing the information for presentation to the consumer of the merchandise when the consumer is proximate the merchandise that is supported by the shelf.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 obtaining identifier data describing at least one item supported by a surface;   determining a first weight of items supported by the surface, the items including the at least one item;   responsive to identifying a change to the first weight, determining a second weight of items supported by the surface;   determining that a difference between the first weight and the second weight corresponds to a weight of the at least one item; and   outputting a display of information regarding the at least one item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the display of information comprises communicating the information for display at a client device disposed with a user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the display of information comprises displaying the information at a display device of the surface. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying user information for a user in proximity to the surface during the identifying the change to the first weight, wherein the display of information regarding the at least one item is determined based on the user information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the identifier data describing at least one item supported by the surface is performed using a component of the surface configured to obtain identifier data from a tag of the at least one item. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the items supported by the surface include a plurality of different items and outputting the display of information regarding the at least one item comprises outputting a display of information regarding the at least one item and at least one additional item of the plurality of different items. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display of information regarding the at least one item is determined based on at least one of a time of a day, a day of a week, or a quantity of the at least one item currently being supported by the surface during the determining the second weight of items supported by the surface. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising updating a database inventory record responsive to identifying the change to the first weight. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting an increase to the second weight of items supported by the surface, determining that an amount of the increase to the second weight corresponds to a weight of one or more of the items supported by the surface, and updating a database inventory record to include the one or more of the items as being supported by the surface. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining identifier data describing at least one item supported by a surface; 
 determining a first weight of items supported by the surface, the items including the at least one item; 
 responsive to identifying a change to the first weight, determining a second weight of items supported by the surface; 
 determining that a difference between the first weight and the second weight corresponds to a weight of the at least one item; and 
 outputting a display of information regarding the at least one item. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein outputting the display of information comprises communicating the information for display at a client device disposed with a user. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , the operations further comprising identifying user information for a user in proximity to the surface during the identifying the change to the first weight, wherein the display of information regarding the at least one item is determined based on the user information. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , the operations further comprising determining the display of information regarding the at least one item based on at least one of a time of a day, a day of a week, or a quantity of the at least one item currently being supported by the surface during the determining the second weight of items supported by the surface. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , the operations further comprising updating a database inventory record responsive to identifying the change to the first weight. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , the operations further comprising detecting an increase to the second weight of items supported by the surface, determining that an amount of the increase to the second weight corresponds to a weight of one or more of the items supported by the surface, and updating a database inventory record to include the one or more of the items as being supported by the surface. 
     
     
         16 . One or more computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that are executable by one or more processors to cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining identifier data describing at least one item supported by a surface;   determining a first weight of items supported by the surface, the items including the at least one item;   responsive to identifying a change to the first weight, determining a second weight of items supported by the surface;   determining that a difference between the first weight and the second weight corresponds to a weight of the at least one item; and   outputting a display of information regarding the at least one item.   
     
     
         17 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 16 , wherein outputting the display of information comprises communicating the information for display at a client device disposed with a user. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising identifying user information for a user in proximity to the surface during the identifying the change to the first weight, wherein the display of information regarding the at least one item is determined based on the user information. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising updating a database inventory record responsive to identifying the change to the first weight. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising detecting an increase to the second weight of items supported by the surface, determining that an amount of the increase to the second weight corresponds to a weight of one or more of the items supported by the surface, and updating a database inventory record to include the one or more of the items as being supported by the surface.