CA2295378A1 - Point of purchase (pop) terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

A wearable or carryable means typically for being owned. operated, and controlled by an individual buyer allows a purchase to be directed, at least in some parameters, by the buyer. The seller may be a representative of a large organization. The apparatus enable collegial identification of officials representing a seller organization.
The invention provides an incidentalist identificational procedure, so that legitimate officials are not offended by a buyer using the invention when the buyer might otherwise be perceived as disrespectful by demanding identification from the seller. The apparatus also allows the buyer to select and control the advertisements displayed to the buyer, rather than leaving this matter up to the sole discretion of the seller.

Description

Patent Application of W'. Stew Cz. Mann for Point of Purchase (PoP) terminal of which the following is a, specification:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains generally to a wearable or carryable apparatus typi-cally owned, operated, and controlled by an individual person, for the individual to use in controlling the parameters of a purchase from a Seller, where the seller may be either an individual or an organization.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Most purchases are made between an individual buyer and a seller who is ei-ther an organization or a representative of an organization. Such a Situation places the individual buyer at a disadvantage as compared to the organization.
Moreover.
organizations often set the stage, and control the parameters of the purchase.
For ex-ample, organizations often maintain strict control over the environment in which the purchase is made. This control may include security systems, hidden video surveil-lance cameras; collection of customer profiles, and the like. At the same time. many representatives of seller organizations shirk responsibility loy not wearing their oacoe tags; deliberately putting on their name tags backwards so their names don't show, and refusing to identify thenmelves when asked for their manes.
The old aphorisms "Tlie customer is king'' ; or ''The customer is always right~~
have little bearing on the actual order of huainess within most sellers' establishments, in the sense that the seller is generally in control (e.g. ''king'' ) of the process. For example, there is typically a so--called Point of Sale (PoS) terminal operated by the seller. whereas the buyer merely stands lay patiently and lets the seller lead the wav through the procedure. In almost all aspects of the transaction, ranging from de-signing advertisements, selecting the venue for the advertisements, setting the prices, designing the conditions of the sale. etc.. the seller is typically in control.
Frequently a, seller will ask a buyer to show varioms pieces of identification and provide vast amounts of personal information for a, seller database. jlwk mail lists, and the like; yet the buyer will often refuse to provide even his or leer namc, let alone personal information such as home phcnm~ number; mailing address, a,nd the like.
However, when one considers the damage that may arise from a lack of buyer or seller accountability, especially in low cost items, the seller myy at most lose the purchase price of the transaction, whereas the buyer is at far greater risk.
For ex-ample, defective products like automotive parts (brake pads, safety products, etc.) can lead to extensive damage to a buyer's car, as well as putting the health and safety of the buyer and others a,t great risk. Other products such a,s pharmaceuticals, when defective, can inflict far greater damage to a, buyer's health than the cost of the transaction. It is often not just the manufacturer to blame in matters of defec-tive product. There i5 a. growing number of grey- market dealers, knowingly selling defective pharmacy products. ~ umerous other defective producas are distributed by sellers fully aware of their dangero us and often illegal actions. Moreover.
manv such sellers arc: dangerously arrogant and unaccountable.
Other examples where seller accountability is often lacking arise in the food pro-duction and restaurant businesses. Many restaurant owners knowingly maintain less than hygienic conditions. Although the seller representative may not be the person di-rectly responsible for these conditions, the seller representative is typically connected in some way to the organization. if by no other means than the seller representative being an cmplpyee of the organization.
Moreover, a seller may provide a buyer with products containing trojan horses or viruses. For example, a seller may sell a, computer program containing a malicious virus, or a trojan horse installed for espionage benefiting the seller.
Likewise for those selling services. Consider, for example; a doctor. Anyone could pretend to be a doctor, and display a fake certificate in an office. If ~.
patient were to demand to see a copy of the doctor's photo ID; this would be seen as disrespectful of the patient, and would likely offend the doctor, even though the doctor may ask the patient to see some photo ID (such as a, health card or the like to prove the existence of payment capability, insurance coverage, or the like).
Shopkeepers and other building owners have developed means and apparatus for containment, confinement. and other forms of processing they wish to apply to indi-viduals passing through their establislnnents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4341165 describes a revolving door which allows the building owner to entrap and detain ioersons wspecaed of shoplifting, stealing, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4586441 descrii~es a similar invention that also analyzes the individual so entrapped. U.S. Pat. No. 44(i1221 clesc:ribes a system for detaining robbers on premises. U.S. Pat. Nc~. 4341165 also describes a similar system. U.S. Pat.
No.
5311166 describes a system for directing water and chemical weapons on undesirable persons entering a premises. U.S. Pat. No. 5528220 describes a device that automat-ically sprays chemical weapons on indivichials entering an area, where the owners of the establishment would prefer that individuals not c>nter.
In addition to access control. there are also perimeter security devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. N o. 5182764 to sc n,n individuals for weapons, and other forms of devices that allow officials or security guards to see through clothing to inspect individuals. Sonue systenm allow officials to secretly search individuals without their knowledge or consent. and without any kind of due process. despite the fact that such searches are often illegal and unconstitutional.
Environments in which the establislnnent owners are in control are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pa . No. 4796311 describes an intake facility whereby individuals may be required to undress completely, while being viewed by facility owners or the like, who can also monitor a,nd control a deconta,miuation pro<;ess. U.S. Pat.
No.
4858256 a,nd U.S. Pat. No. 5551102 describe similar ''decor" systems, whereby am individual may be prevented from passing from one section to another unless the individual complies with orders or requirements of those in control.
Historically; showers with airtight and watertight locking doors that caimot be opened ly the occupants have been used to subject the occupants to various chemical slzbstances. Such practices a,n d procedures are well known in the prior a.rt.
On the other hand, very little has been done to protect the individual from the forces of establishments.
Although physical protection of the body through armour is a centuries-old aspect of the prior-art, dating back to the days when five to seven layers of rhinoceros skin were used to protect the body during battle, such physical protection of the body has not kept pace with new developments in the protection of establishments.
Protection of establishments has evolved from the physical protection of medieval fortresses to informatic protection such as that; used in bank towers with glass doors protected by card readers and retinal scanners. Thus the protection of establishments has moved from the physical era of the stone fortress to the informational era of biometrics.
The protection of the body has not kept pace with this move from physical stone fortresses to informational protection of l~uildimgs.
Online shopping has evolved with methods of protecting the shopper from un-wanted advertising (span), bttt these protective measures (e.g. span filters) only apply to cyberspace and still fail, in the real world (e.g. outside cyberspace), to protect the buyer from manipulation by the seller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of examples which in no w~iy are meant to limit the scope of the invention, but, rather, these examples will serve to illustrate the invention with reference to the accompayving drawings, in which:

FIG. la illustrates aspects of the traditional seller-push model and serves to define the difference between sale axed purchase. as well as the differences between Point of Sale (PoS) and Point of Purc:ha se (PoP) systems.
FIG. lb illustrates the Point of Purchase terminal and its various components.
FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of tile PoP terminal which acquires a valid fingerprint scan of a seller's finger.
FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the PoP terminal in which the identifier, in effect, comprises an eye of the buyer, loy way of a reality mediator that taps into the eye of the buyer when the buyer wears au eyeglass based embodiment of the PoP
terminal sv stem.
FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the buyer's PoP terminal having a DNA
sampler that collects D~ A when the seller opens it to take his or her payment; this embodiment of the invention also having a camera configured so that the a.ct of opening it also automatically takes a picture or begins recording video documentary of a transaction between hover and seller.
FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention built into a wristwatch which sim-ilarly captures video axed is also equipped with a fingerprint scanner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
While the invention shall mow be described with reference to flue preferred em-bodiments shown in the drawings, it should he understood that the clcacription is not to limit the invention only to the particular embodiments shown but rather to cover all alterations, modifications and equivalent arrangements possible within the scope of the appended claims.
In all aspects of the present invention. references to ''camera'' mean anv device or collection of devices capable of'simultaneonsly determining a quaxxtity of light arriving from a plurality of directions and or a a plurality of locations, or determining some other attribute of light arriving from a plurality of directions and or at a plurality of locations.
Similarly references to "identifier" shall im;lv~de devices such as face recognizes camera vision systems, fingerprint scanners. and the like, as well as devices that capture a sample of data for later identification, such as devices that colleca a D\A
sample. Tlms devices that collect da to contributing to au evidentiary trail, even if that data needs to he analyzed later, will be referred to as identifiers.
References to ''processor" . or "computer'' shall include sequential instruction, par-allel instruction. and special purpose architectures such as digital signal lrocessing hardware, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPCAs), progrannmable logic:
devices, as well as analog signal processing devices.
When it is said that object ''A" is ''borne" by object "B". this shall include the possibilities that A is attached to B. that A is bonded onto the surface of B, that A is embedded inside B. that A is part of B, that A is built into B; or that A
is B. An example of ''A is B'' might be a caanera -bearing pair of eyeglasses. in which the eyeglasses themselves are a camera, in the sense that there is a CCD
sensor array somewhere in the eyeglasses, a lens s~>mew~liere in the eyeglasses. a,ml a cavity between the two that is part of the eyeglasses, and has no clearly separable portion tlat could be regarded as a separate entity.
References to monetary units are made using integers for simplicity, but may be understood to be fractional units of any currency, not just cents, and may also be other units not necessarily related to monetary units. The monetary units dcacribed (e.g. 5 cents, 6 cents, etc.) may equally be floating point values possibly monetary and possibly other units such as attentiona,l value that might be an alternative to today's monetary currency systems. The amounts may also be scaled up or down drastically, e.g. to nanocents, picocents, or the like, or in minute units like picocents per integrated phototz of advertisement source incident on a retinal cell; or integrated continuum units based on various probabilistic visibility measures.

FIG. 1a is a table depicting the traditional seller-push para digm as compared to a buyer pull paradigm. On the left band side of the table are the concepts of selling, and on the right hand side, those of baying (purchasing). Typically an organization will SELL 100, while an individual will BUY (PURCHASE) 101. The organization either is or comprises a SELLER. 102 who may attempt to create a perceived need (e.g. tluough possibly manilorrlative advertisements, etc:.) in the mind of BUYER
(PURCHASER.) 103. The SELLER. 102 will place goods or services ON SALE 104, acrd define the terms of tire sale, conditions for gelling, etc.. In response to this action, a BUYER 103 may make a purchase decision, and eventually the good or service will have been PURCHASED 105 1>y BUYER 103. Traditionally, the SELLER 102 is in complete control of the procedure, notwitlmta,rrding the fact that the BUYER
103 is tire one who allegedly makes the decision n.s to whether or not to BUY 101.
SELLER 102, either directly or through a representative (e.g. a c;ashier), operates a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal, sometimes referred to as, or including, a cash register or the like. For simplicity, both the seller, and representatives of the seller. as well as the organization of the seller, will be referred to a,s ''seller" . Tlrus SELLER. 102 depicts any and all representatives of an organizational strucaure selling goods or services.
A key inventive concept is a device to put the BUYER. 103 in control of at least some elements of the procedural aspects of the transaction, such as collection of evidentiary data that might assist in rectifying differences of opinion or wrongdoing a a later date.
FIG. lb is a, diagram depicting a Point of Pino:hase (Pop') terminal 110. PoP
terminal 110 includes a payment container 120 which contains payment 130.
Payment uray be coins, bills, gold pieces, digital cash; anonymous elecaronic cash. or other negotiables or valuables, or representatives thereof. Pa,ynreut container 120 i5 secured with a lock 121. Lock 121 is typically controlled by a computer 140. Computer may be a microprocessor, microchip, digital logic; circuit, or the brain of the buyer 160, in which case control interface to lock 121 may be made by way of am implantable brain interface. Lock 121 n zay be am eleotronxc:clxanical lock on a physical container, or a, cryptographic lock on a, virtual container. Payment 130 may be a physical object, or an informatics object such as knowledge of a, nunxber that is money or the like.
PoP terminal 110 includes an identifier 150. Identifier 150 acquires evidentiary data pertaining to the seller, the seller's establish meat, or the environment and con-ditions of the sale. This evidentiary data may include meaw~ements such as acoustic vibrations, infrared or visible light energy, etc., as wall as samples of particulate mat-ter, such as might help determine by way of smell, information about, the environment, including identifying infornration from the seller (suc;h as body sn xell, D~
A samples, etc.). In the preferred embodiment of the invention; identifier 150 is a video camera, that records a motion picture sequence or in dividxtal picture fran zes from multiple pictures, together with multiple sound channels from a plurality of microphones. The camera records pictures and multiple somzd clxa,xmels for later processing, including superresolution image enhancement and adaptive beanzforming, null steering, and the like, in order to obtain a cleanly discernible sound track despite acoustic disturbances such as machinery (as might arise, for example, in a section of a department store where vacuum cleaners are being demonstrated).
PoP terminal 110 is coxinected to lmyc;r 160 by wa.y of security tether 111.
Tether 111 may be a chain, cable, or the like. which keeps at least some portions of the apparatus attached to the buyer's body. Preferably tether 111 is such that the buyer can thread it around his or her waist, or other body anchor point 112; and then feed it into the open PoP terminal, such that access to the end is needed to detach the tether from the buyer, and access to the end needed to unthread the apparatus from the buyer's waist requires openixxg (unlocking) the apparatus. Alternatively, a special strap around a body anchor point 112 con zprisin g the waist or ankle may lze held in place loy a cable similar to the lochdown cables used to prevent theft of laptop computers.
y Alternatively, the tether may be wireless. such that a person stealing the PoP
terminal will be subdued or marked with chemical means. such as that mamtfactured under the trade name Dye Witness (TR~I). A thief taking the PoP terminal beyond c:onnnunication s reach of a body anchor 112 comprising a corresponding wearable radio transmitter will simply cause the device to switch into a, protective mode of spraying with chemicals. Likewise, attempts to force open or bypass the lock on the PoP terminal will resmlt in similar discharge of chemical disincentives.
Further indentifiers may be mixed with the chemical disincentives. For example, a unique colcnn may be imparted to each mamfactured unit, so that subtle differences in shading of the dyes may- identify the recipient of the chemical marking as being the perpetrator of a particular crime. The chemicals may also contain pico technology, such as picoscale identifiers that are carried by the perpetrator.
In the preferred embodiment, body anchor point 112 comprises a wearable radio link contained in a wearable computer system 142, and the PoP terminal 110 is secured by a radio frequency tether 111.
Payment container 120 (with lock 121), identifier 150, and computer 140 may be in a single housing 1.10, or may be physically separate but still connected by communications links such as wireless transceivers or the like. Ayy combination is possible; for example, two of these three items ma,y be together in a housing;
and the th ird znav be separate.
In some embodiments of the invention, computer 140 is containe<l in the buyer's clothing, so that wearable comp inter system 142 performs the function of computer 140.
In a second preferred embodiment, identifier 150 comi>rises the use of at least one eye 151 of the buyer 160, wherein the buyer 160 wears special eyeglasses that, in effect;
cause the eye itself to function as a camera. The eyeglasses also contain a number of microphones that function as a. phased array system for (together with the tapping of eye 150) capturing a video recording of the transaction between the seller and the buyer. In this second preferred embodiment, wearable computer system 142 unlocks lock 121 that seczwes payment container 120. In this second preferred embodiment.
payment container 120 is in flue form of a wallet, or wallet-like structure.
and tether 111 joins payment container 120 to buyer 1G0, rather than joinin g the whole PoP
terminal to buyer 1G0.
Additionally, computer 140 or wea,ra,l>le conzlmter 142 (or both, as the case may be) communicate with a buyer protection network 170. In the preferred embodiment, this communication is facilitated by wa,y of wireless comnzunica.tions transceivers 141 and 171.
A fundamental inventive concept behind the apparatus of Fig lb is in the way in which the locus of control is transferred to the buyer. in c:ontrast to traditional Point of Sale terminals that put. all the control in the hands of the seller. Just as Point of Sale terminals (e.g. cash registers and the like) often incorporate hidden video surveillance cameras located behind a dark Plexiglas window in the cash register, the PoP terminal also can collect evidentiary data.
Another important inventive concept is that of subservience enzpowern tent in which a cashier is traditionally empowered with the ability to deny lochs of con-trol. Most notably, a cashier can simply say wI'm just following con zpayy policy"
when asked to negotiate terms of sale. In mayy cases a seller will pretend to not be in control of his or her situation. For example'; a seller might sav "I can't give yon a refund; my machine won't let me", or "I c:an't give you the discount, the cash register ~or nzy manager won't let, me" .
In order to create a balanced situation, it is desirable for the PoP
t:ernzinal to pro-vide similar fzuzctionality. by providing the buyer with the same kind of subservience enzpowern zest. Thus it is desirable to have at least one mode of operation in which the buyer may relinquish control to a remote 'nnanager'' such as a spouse remotely logged in over a computer net,worl: to computer 140 on wearable computer 142, or a buyer protection network 170. In this wa,y, the seller cam not know for certain whether the buyer is in control of his or her own acaions. Accordingly; th a buyer can claim the same kind of ''yy manager'' subservience flat the seller often does. For example, the buyer can say ''I'd really like to purchase this item, but yy manager won't, let me unless the following terms are met . . . ".
The buyer can also claim or allege that the existence of the identifier 150 is required by a remote entity. Therefore, just as the seller will often cite management as the source of video surveillance cameras even if he or she installed them himself or herself, the buyer cam also, with the invention, do the same. The buyer c.an also claim or infer that identifier 150 arises oat of compayv policy; insofar a.s the buyer may be running errands on company time to make p~irc:luases on behalf of a remote corporate manager, by way of buyer protection network 170. In a sense, bmyer protection network 170 may l:~rovide buyer 1~0 with a ~'mauagement service" and accept blame for the buyer's actions. For this service, the buyer may pyy a, small fee to one or snore buyer protection network services.
An important aspect of the invention is the uncertainty that the buyer can inflict upon the seller. For example, the buyer may or may not be making a detailed doc:u-men tart' of the seller's behaviomr and actions, a,nd reporting to the buyer protection network 170. Since the seller does not know whether or not, for example, he or she is under video surveillance, he or she will be on his or her best behaviour at all times, just as the customer (buyer 1G0) is by way of surveillance cameras installed in the seller's establishment. The seller also doc;sn't know whether or not the lyyer may be doing some comparison shoppin g over a connnunica,tions network. For example;
the buyer may scan in price codes and prices and post these to a buyer protection network, so that by the time he or she reaches the checkout, he or she cam be warned about overpriced stern. Thus the PoP t:ermina.l ensures that the seller is fair and reasonable.
FIG. 2 depicts a version of the Point of Purchase terminal of the invention that uses a fingerprint scanner 200. The instructions printed on the PoP terminal are, directed at a, potential seller. The instructions simply direct the seller to press down on a certain portion of the wallet to open it. In a preferred cnzbodiment of the, finger scanning wallet, the fingerprint scazmer portion of the wallet functions in nmch the same way as a fingerprint scanner similar to those used in the BioMolise (Tl~-T) computer fingerprint scarcer.
The wallet has the capability to check to make sure the scanned fingerprint is a valid fingerprint a,nd is not that of the owner, prior to releasing the mechanism that allows the wallet to open loy way of hinge 210.
In this way the owner can declare that he or she is unable to open the wallet himself or herself. Having at least one mode of operation that embodies this wzbservience empowerment function enables the wallet to be used in an assertive fashion without a direct confrontation with the seller.
This an important aspect of this cnzbodimcnt of the invention is the uncertainty in the seller's mind as to whether or not the buyer is in control of the situation.
Obviously the seller cannot control the buyer if the byyer is (or can pretend to be) controlled by a remote entity. A situation that is thus beyond the locus of control of the seller in at least some aspects. tlms pats the buyer amt seller on an equal footing.
FIG. 3 depicts a wearable enzbodimeni= of the invention that includes buyer control of his or her perception of sellers' advertisements or propaganda. Headgear includes a lightspace analyzer 310 and a lightspac;e synthesizer 330, which collectively tap into at least one eye 300 of the wearer of the apparatus. The apparatus takes control of the visual information space aeezz ly eye 300 front the; seller and gives this control to the byyer (e.g. assuming the buyer is th a wearer of the apparatus of the invention).
Various advertisements t.luat sellers place in the field of view of prospecaive buyers are filtered by the appa,ra,tu s of the invention. For example, the buyer can decide that he or she does not wish to sec; any advertisements pertaining to alcoholic beverages.
Therefore a. BACAR.DI billboard 340 is filtered out. Rays 341 of light traveling from the BACARDI billboard 340 toward eye 300 are incident upon lightspace analyzer 310. These rays 341 stop at lightspace analyzer 310 and are not resynthesized by lightspac:e synthesizer 330. The "XXX'' markings 342 denote the visual filtering out of the BACAR.DI billboard 340.
The wearer of the apparatus might be a computer hobbyist who is presently look-ing for good prices on computer hardware. Accordingly, a SEAGATE billboard 350 depicting the latest SEAGATE lard drive technology produces rays 351 of light that are absorbed by lightspace analyzer 310 and resynthesized loy lightspace synthesizer 330, as synthetic (virtual) light rays 352. In thin way, the light rays 352 which represent th a visual contents of t:he SEfIGATE billboard 350 pass into eye 300 in approximately the same way as they would in the absence of the apparatus of the invention.
Similmrly natural subject matter 320 such as roadways, sidewalks. buildings, rays of light from the sky; and flowers. pass tlwougl the visual filter as rays 321 that a.re reconstructed as rays 322 and also enter eye 300.
Thu s the wearer of the apparatus will see most objects in a somewhat natural manner, but certain other offensive visual matter will be filtered out.
Matter to which the wearer of the apparatus is indifferent may be put, up for a,ttction by the wearer of the apparatus. In this way, the wearer ma,y receive payment for viewing billboards and similar advertisements. For example, if the wearer is in different to a PEPSI billboard 360; the light rays 361 from this billboard may be copied through the apparatus to tentative light rays 363. or may be blocked.
depending on whether or not PEPSI COhA or one of the associated vendors working with PEPSI COLA pay the wearer a small fee for viewing the advertisement. The ''~~~" symbols 362 demote this conditional blocking of the visual content in the PEPSI
billboard 360.
Therefore the embodiment of the invention described in Fig 3 puts the byyer in control of his or her visual information space, instead of the seller being in control as has traditionally been the case. Traditionally; sellers are free to buy or rent space in the visual field of view of buyers, and present potentially unsolicited (potentially unwanted) visual material to buyers. This so -called span may now be filtered out by way of the apparatus of the invention, so that the wearer of the special headgear cam walk down a street and only see hilll~oards he or she has decided are of interest, or alternatively; the buyer ca,m filter out specific; billboards that he or she decides are offensive or constitute slam.
In actual functioning, the apparatus takes in (absorbs and quantifies) rays of incoming light. into lightspace analyzer 310. Lightspace analyzer 310 is generally opaque (e.g. no light gets through it). However lightspace analyzer 310 converts incoming light unto a numerical description 311 which is fed to a lightspace converter 312. The lightspace converter converts the numerical description 311 into a quantity that is linear in the photoquantity of inc°oming light (e.g. linearly proportional, up to a constant scale factor, to the amount of incoming light).
Typically, lightspa,ce analyzer 310 maLy be approximated by a,n eye tap camera.
system that includes a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) senior a,rryy.
In order to convert the output of a C'CD camera to lightspace, the camera, tray be calibrated by taking a plurality of pictures differing only in exposure:
.f~;(x) _ .f~(~rr~(x)), (0.1) where k;2 are scalar constants.
Such a set of functions, ,f, (x) describes a, set of images differing only in exposure.
when x = (:c, ~~) is the continuous spatial coordinate of the focal plane of an electronic imaging array (or piece of film), q is the quantity of light falling on the array (or film), a,nd f is the unknown nonlinearity of the camera's (or imaging system's) response fraction. Generally, f is assumed to be a pointwise flmction, e.g. invariant to x.
The quantity; q, in (0.1), is called the photoquan,tigraphic qua,mtity, or just the photoquantity for short. This quantity is ueitlier radiometric (rodiarace or zr°r~rz~iarrce) nor photometric (l,crrrri~n,ccrtce or ill,n,rriirta,rrcc). Most nota,hly, since the camera will not necessarily have the same spectral response as the human eye, or, in particmla r, that of the photopic specara,l luminous efficiency function a5 determined by the CIE and standardized in 1924, q is neither brightness, lightness; huninance; l:lor illuminance.
Instead, photoquantigraphic imaging nlea,sures the cplantity of light.
integrated over the spectral response of the particular c;amerce system, q = I~~ q.~(a)s(a) da.
(0.2) where qS.(~) is the actual light falling on the image sensor and s is the Spectral sen-sitivity of all element of the sensor array. It is assumed that the spectral sensitivity does not vary across the sensor arryy.
The quantity q reads in unity that a.rce quantifiable (e.g. linearized or logarith-uric); ill lurch the same way that a photographic light Meter measures ill quantifiable (linear or logaritlunic) units. However, just as the photographic; light meter imparts to the measurement its own spectral response (e.g. a light meter using a selenium cell will impart the spectral response of selenium cells to the Measurement) photo-quantigra phic imaging accepts that there will be a particular Spectral response of the camera, which will define the photoquantigraphic unlit q. Each camera will typically have its own photoquantigraphic unit. In this way, the camera may be regarded as all array c>f lightlleters:
q(x, J) - .lo qss(~', q, ~)~5(~) d~ (0.3) where q55. is the spatially varying spec teal distribution of light falling on the image SeTlSOl'.
Thus varying numbers of photons of lesser or greater energy (frequency times Planck's constant) are absorbed by a, gi~-ell element of the Sensor array, and. over the temporal integration time of a single frame ill the video sequence (or the picture taking time of a still image) result in the pllotoquantigraphic quantity given by Eq.
0.3.
In the case of a, color camera, q(x, y) is simply a vector quantity; e.g.
(q.,.(x, ;q), qs(=~; J)~ 9v(:~. ?/)~, where each component is derived from a sfepara.te spectral sensitivity flnlction. In this disclosure, the theory will be developed and explained for greyacale images, where it is uNderstood that most images are color images, for which the procedures are applied to the separate color channels. Thus iN both cases (greyscale or color) the contiNll-ous spectral information q~.(~) is lost through conversion to a, single nuNlber q or to typically 3 numbers, q,., q~. c~~,.
Ordinarily cameras give, rise to Noise, e.g. there is Noise from the sensor elements and further noise within thE: camera (or equivalently Noise due to film grain and subsequent scanning of a film, etc.). Thus a goal of photoquantigraphic illlaging is to attempt to estimate the photoquaNtity q, ill the presence of Noise. Since q5(~) is destroyed, the best we can do is to estimate ~l. Thus q is the fundan lentil or "atomic'' unit of photoquantigraphic image processing.
Most cameras do not provide an output that varies linearly with light input.
I1ISLCad; NlOSt Ca,IllE'1'as COlltalll a dyIlaIIll('. I'aIlge CONIpI'essOl'.
Therefore, to undo this effect, a, dynamiE: range expander 312 is used to arrive a,t the lightspace photoquantity q that calve iron l eaE;h object in the scene.
etc.. A typical r function for the dynamic range colnpressioN gives all iNlage ,f'1 = .f'(c~) _ ~1 2. 2 = ~u.l.,.
Thus a function suitable for expa,llder 312 few undoing (approximately) this com pression, e.g. darkening the miEl--tones of the image after processing is ~ _ ,f-1(,fy) _ .f~i z ~
A better function for expander 312 may be derived as follows: First consider the classic model .f (r1) = cY + ~3q~ (0.4) used by photographers to E;haracterize the response of a variety of photographic enlul-sions and electronic can lerae.
Proposition 0Ø1 The comparametric plot, corresponding to the standard photo-graphic response .fonctioro ~0.1s~ is a stra~:ght line. The slope i.s k;~', a,r,d the irefiercept as cx(1 - k:~).
Proof: rJ(.f (kq)) - ,f (kvq) = w + ,~(~'rl) ~ Re-ar~rcan,gin.y to elinrt.ina,te r~ gives g =

k~'(c~ -+- ~3q'~) -f- cY(1 - k;~) so tkta.t:
g = k;' f + rx(1 - k;~)o (0.5) 1\ote that the constant /3 does not appear in this compa,ranretric equation.
Thus we cannot determine ,~3 from the comparametric equation. The physical (intuitive) interpretation is drat we can only determine the nonlinear response fraction of a camera up to a, single unknown scalar constant.
Applying (0.5) to lighten or da,rkcn au image will be called ctffr',rte correcting (e.g.
correcting by modeling the comparametric: function with a, straight line). The special case of ctffirte correction when the intercept is equal to zero will be called linear cur°rectiort.
Preferably cr,ffirte correction of an image also includes a step of clipping values greater than 1 to l; and values less than zero to zero, in the output image:
r~ = rrtin(m,ox(k;~.f + all - k;y), ()), 1) (0.6) If the intercept is zero and the slope is greater than one, the effect, neglecting noise, of (O.G), is to lighten the image in a natural manner that properly simulates the effect of having exposed the image with greater exposure. In this case, the Effect is theoretically identical to that, which wrnzld have been obtained by using a greater exposure on the camera, assnrning the response function of the carrlera.
follows the power law ,f = q~, a,s mayy cameras do in practice. Thus it ha,s been drown that the correca u~ay to lighten an image is to apply linear correction, mot garrtrrta correction (apart from correction of <un image to catch an incorrectly adjusted display-device or the like, where ga.rnma c;orrcction is still the correct operation to a.pply).
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the expander fnrnction 312 is uni-comparametric (bounded in normalized nits betwec:u 0 and 1) and also has a, pa-rameter to control the softness of the transition into the toe and shor,lder regiorxs of the response function; rather than the hard clipping introduced by (0.6).

In particular, in the preferred embodiment expander 312 is the inverse of:
which works out to be:
(0.8) 1 - ~ .f~(~l) The constant b in ((7.7) is arbitrary, a,nd it may be desired for simplicity to set this to zero, so that:
An intuitive understanding of (0.7) ca,n be better had by re-writing it:
exp (1~(1 ~- e-(,~a;(~~)+r,>)~)' , dq ~ G
.f = (o.lo) o, f'or~=o where the soft transition into the toe (region of underexposure) and shoulder (region of tmderexposure) regions is evident by the shape of this curve ha,s on a logarithmic exposure scale.
This softness (less abrupt change) gives rise to a more pleasing and natural looking image in which computer-replaced advertisements look more realistic.
Once the numerical description 311 is converted to lightspace by way of expander 312, the image is stabilized by stabilizer 313. In the preferred embodiment, stabilizer 313 works on the flow of a rigid planar patch. Since most, billboard span is confined to a flat surface, this works most of the time. Stabilizer 313 may operate by way of projective flow or projective fit, together with projectivity plus gain estimation, as described in the lead article of Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 8G, No. 11. The appara,-tm may also use positioning systems such as GPS, woaralole IIaDAl3, syste,nm, inertial guidance, electronic compass systems, and the like, in addition to vision, in order to derive similarity metrics for a,ds; so that some of these metrics can be location-based.
For simplicity, consider, without. loss of generality, visual-based methods.

In motion stabilized coordinates, visual information is passed into a visual filter 314 that compares incoming material with span samples from a. seam database.
Entries in the. span database are c;onxpa,red for projectivity plus gain congruence with incoming span. What is meant lxy projectivity plus gain congruence is a congruence in the same orbit of the projectivity plus gain group of transformations, as described in the lead article of Proceedings of the IEEE. Vol. 86, No. 11.
The visual filter 314 will either ALLOW 31G or KILL 315 incomin g visual informa-tion. A killfile may be con xprise<I of spaxu, and killfiles may he shared among buyers wlxc> belong to a buyer protection network 170 or the like. Individuals with similar tastes nxyy subscribe to similar killfile mailings, or the like, and filter out billboards in a manner similar to the web-based filters used to block offensive web sites.
However, this embodiment of the invention differs from the prior art in the sen se that this invention pertains to filtering otxt spa,m from the real world, rather tluan filtering out span from cyberspace.
After offensive material is removed from the scene, what has been ALLOWed 316 is passed to a second visual filter 317 that forms the basis for a byyer controlled auction. The buyer who is looking for producas to buy sells his or her visual attention span; instead of allowing this visual attention conunodity to be stolen by sellers.
Visual filter 317 operates in conjunction with a visual attention broker 370.
Visual attention broker 370 creates proposals tlxat t~irn the buyer into a. seller of a new commodity, namely his or her own visual attention, rather than allowing this visual attention to be stolen without payment. The buyer who is ordinarily 1->onxbarded with advertisements about products he or she' c:an buy now sells his or her visual attention to the seller of the products, or a representative of the seller of the products.
Visual attention broker 370 takes a lightspace representation of tlxe photoquantity within a portion of the field of view of the person wearing the apparatus, and converts this lightspace into a,n image by way of dynamic range compressor 371. The image material is then passed on to proposal generator 373 which creates scenarios for sellers '?() of products who wish the wearer of the apparatus to buy these products, or at least to become aware of these loroducts.
The wearer of the <~pparatus sends out proposals 374 to various vendors and suppliers. offering to view their ads for a certain price each.
Because of the c;omplic;ated nature of the wearer's preferences (e.g. the compli-Gated nature of human nature), the auctioning of visual attention is weighted by auction weighter 372. This weighting arises by virtue of the fact that different kinds of ads are such that the wearer can charge the seller more money if the seller wants the wearer to see these acts. The cost the wearer w ggests um,y depend on market value a,s well a,s the wearer's preferences. An aucaion weighting list might appear as follows:
~ relevant pass through = 0 cents ~ relevant insertion = 0 c;euts + 1 cents '%~ (cent) processing fee ~ relevant = hard drives, R.A~I. ASUS motherboard with SC'SI
~ irrelevant pass through = 5 cents ~ irrelevant insertion = 5 cents + 1 cents °/, (c;ent) processing fee ~ irrelevant = soft drinks. food, groceries, household goods ~ offensive pass through = oo cents ~ offensive insertion = oo cents -I- 1 cents °~o (cent) processing fee ~ offensive = alcohol, naked people, swimwear, underwear, deadbeat dads, colum-bus. condomwoman Thu s relevant ads (e.g. ads that are newsworthy to the wearer) pass through freely.
whereas insertion of relevant material onto the real world is pa"5sed through at cost.
In this example, the cost is one cents (one cent, with the plural form ~'cemta" still used '~ 1 to avoid screen flicker as financial values fluctuate around the 1.0 cent point wherupon the letter ''s" in "cents" would otherwise flicker on and of~ creating distracting mo-tion artifacts). In the above table, the percent sign, "°-o" denotes a, comment field.
Irrelevant ads (e.g. a,ds that th a wearer finds neither newsworthy nor offensive) are passed through a,t a higher cost, or imsE~ri;ecl at the Higher cost plus the insertion fee.
Offensive ads are blocked ly setting the viewing fee to oc. Am infinite viewing fee encodes unconditional ad blockage.
The above table myy be displayed by the wearer, through the capabilities of lightspa,ce synthesizer 330 alone, or by wyy of lightspace synthesizer 330 in conjunction with lightspac:e analyzer 310 to stabilize the table on ayy real world object or objects.
Thus the wearer c:an look at a blank wall of a building, and cause the above table to appear as am illusory rigid planar patch upon this blank wall, where the wearer eau also edit this table.
The table of ads and ad categories rnay make reference to specific a,ds, or classes of ads; such as alcohol a,ds; swimwear ads. underwear ads, etc.. ~Vew ads that the wearer finds offensive or distracting may be added to the list by the wearer, or by other members of his or her collecaive. or b nyer protection network 170. or other entity sharing similar tastes. For example, some people have found the so--called "deadbeat dads'' ads to be o$~emsive in the sense that they stereotype men a,s irresponsible.
Therefore these ads can 1>c added into a category of that heading, to he deleted or replaced by ad s depicting irresponsible parents without reference to a, specific gender of parent. Similarly, the ads celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbu s ''discovering'' America, were found by some people to be insensitive to the indigenous peoples already living in America before his "discovery" .
Therefore members of this class of advertisement may be added into a, killfile that may be referenced under the heading "columbus'' . The ads for condoms, particularly the one showing a woman wearing nothing but a bra, with a condom placed partially under one cup of the bra. ma.y 1>e placed into a l:illfile under the heading "condomwoma,n" .
'~2 and this entire killfile nzzzy be referenced loy heading name, a,md thus all members of this set can be included in the ''offensive'' category.
Other killfiles can be included, such a"s a killfile containing swinzwear ads.
one containing underwear ads. etc., and these killfiles ca,n be situa,tionallv included. For example, the apparatus can sense the activity of the wearer, so that the wearer c;an program the device to block swimwear and underwear ads while the wearer is driving a car (or doing another specific acaivity that requires conc:entration). Ads can also be ranked, e.g. particularly seductive or otherwise distracting material can be filtered out during tasks that require concentration.
The wearer can also add new ads into a l:illfile, or start a mew killfile.
Generally ads may be entered into the killfile ly looking at them and selecting them. In this way, each ad need only be viewed once, and then, if the wearer so desires, may be never seen again.
Ads corresponding to matters of interest to the wearer are considered news. In this example, the wearer is currently heading out to buy a new hard drive, some RAW, and an ASUS motherboard with onboard SCSI. Since the wearer is actually en route to purchase these items, l~illbo arcls and advertisements depicting these items a,re actually newsworthy at this particular time. Therefore this matter passes through freely.
Other categories include irrelevant matter that is neither o$'ensive nor newsworthy to the wearer. These might include soft drinks, groceries; household items, and other neutral subject matter. For viewing these neutral ads, the wearer solicits a small payment from each of a variety of prochict vendors.
For example, the wearer's auction weighter 372 autonzatic;ally prepares a proposal to PEPSI COLA corporation, offering to view the PEPSI billboard 360 for 5 cents.
If PEPSI pays the wearer 5 cents, the PEPSI billboard 360 gets allowed by visual filter 317 and the wearer sees the billboard. If PEPSI doesn't pay the wearer 5 cents, the PEPSI billboard 360 gets blocked or replaced by other subject matter, such as the wearer's favorite Holier quote, or perhaps a personal message to the wearer from his or her spouse. PEPSI is given a preview 364 of how the wearer will experience the ad, and in what context (e.g. showing the blocked BACARDI advertisement.
etc.). The image 365 of F'EPSI billboard 3E~0 serves to allow PEPSI to determine how much of the wearer's visual field of view is occupied loy the proposed advertisement offer. Additionally, PEPSI is offered the chance to im~chase a. hyberlinlc 366 for an additional 10 rents. A hvberlinlc is a real--world hlrperlinl: that hibernates on the billboard until the wearer of the apparatus looks at the billboard or looks at the billboard and activates the billboard with his or her PoP terminal.
In a preferred embodiment of the hyl>erlink system, the wearer looks at the bill-board and puts it in the center of his or her field of view, while clicking on a small switch in his or her PoP terminal. A hyl>erlink is very similar to a, hyperlink on the world wide web, except that the hyberlink is iu the real world. not cyberspace.
If the wearer of the apparatus clicks on the hyberlink (assuming PEPSI ha,s chosen to pay the wearer for viewing the hyberlink), an animated PEPSI advertisement comes to life in the real world, together with directions on how to get to the nearest PEPSI
vendor. The wearer's visual perception of reality is altered in such a way that the wearer sees a clear marking on the road or siclewallc leading to the uearerst PEPSI
vendor.
If the wearer responds to the PEPSI ad with a thirst for PEPSI, the wearer simply follows the directions embodied in t:he altered perception of reality, to the nearest PEPSI vendor; a,nd then uses his or her PoP terminal to make the purchase.
It is anticipated that many of these ad viewing transactions would operate compu-tationally without human intervention, except perhaps to spot-check the occasional proposal preview 364 and image 365, while assuming all the others are acceptable to the general spirit of the product seller's relationship with the wearer.
At the same time, aucaion weighter 3?2 automatically prepares a proposal to COCA COLA corporation. offering to replace the PEPSI billboard 360 with a COKE
'?4 billboard of COCA COLA's choice within c;erta,in limitations, such as mot offending the wearer by making reference to alcohol or inserting an ad depicting unclothed or scantily clad individuals. The terms of these negotiations are a,utomatic:ally generated to suit the wearer's preferences, a,nd a contract is offered to COKE for replacement of this, and possibly future PEPSI billboards with COKE billboards.
The cost of viewing the COKE replacement to PEPSI billboard 360 is 6 cents for this one tune. The extra cent is to cover the computational cost of rendering the replacement, and a service charge for altering the wearer's visual perception of reality. A portion of this one cent charge goes toward reality mediation insurance, to indemnify the wearer from harm that may arise from visual distractions in ex-cessively aggressive advertising, or in 5vstem malfmction whether deliberate on the part of COCA COLA corporation or accidental. Thus modifying the wcarc:r's reality stream involves a small additional cost, in addition to the cost of having the wearer view the advertisement. C'OC.'A COLA is given the chance to loreview the proposed ad replacement 368, within the visual context preview image 367. COCA COLA
corporation is also offered the opportunity to purchase a hyberlink 369 for 10 cents.
Advertisements that the wearer does not consider to be spa,m myy be replaced by other advertisements that are also not, considered to be span 1>y the wearer. For example, if the wearer were a computer hobbyist, he or she might consider a SEA-GATE advertisement to be newsworthy, and also a I1.EDHAT Linux advertisement to be newsworthy. Since REDHAT is of interest to the wearer, a hyberlink 357 is offered for only 3 cents. The hyberlink 357 is not free of charge hec:a,use of the cost of providing reality mediation insurance, and the. cost of rendering the animated reality mediation of the real world perception of vis~ial reality.
Bids 384 return from the various sellers and product vendors, and pass to visual attention vendor 380. Visual attention vendor 380 communicates with personal cash verifier 385. Personal cash is the omit of currency that the wearer collects for viewing advertisements. Preferably pcash may be directed into payment container 120, even if it is not of the same form as payment 130. Preferably therefore, Clue wearer might;
for example, be able to obtain a free coke in exchange for looking at some coke a,ds.
Once the personal cash is verified, thc, visual attention vendor generates am image mix, iruc:luding bitmap images it m~,y have received from the vendors of various prod-ucts. These bitmap images are converted to lightspace loy expander 375 and added into the wearer's reality stream lay lightspace a,clder 334. Lightspacc; adder 334 sends the visual information, complete with inserted ads, to desta,bilizer 333.
Desta,bilizer 333 restores the natural motion to the scc;ne to make it match what would normally pass through to the eye (e.g. ordinarily images entering the eye are in wild motion due to eye movement; body movement, etc., and are not the still images that are presented to the vendors). The output of destabilizes 333 is fed to compressor 332 so that the resulting imagespaee signal 331 will be compatible with lightspac;e synthesizer 330.
This completes the journey from rays of light incident upon lightspace analyzer 310 on through to collinear rays of light reconstituted by lightspace synthesizer 330.
The combination of lightspace analyzer 310 and lightspace synthesizer 330 may function as a camera, where analyzer 310 functions as the camera and synthesizer 330 as its viewfinder. Therefore, the headgear of Fig 3 myy function as identifier 150 of Fig lb. Similarly, expanders 312 and 375, compressors 332 and 371, stabilizer 313, visual filters 314 and 317. visual attention broker and vendor 370 and 380, auction weighter 372. proposal generator 373, personal cash verifier 385, a,nd clestabilizer 333;
a rc., can be embodied a,s part of wearable comln~ter 142 of Fig lb.
So far, aspects of the invention have been directed to visual information processing systems.
FIG. 4 depicts a safety wallet with DI\ A sampler. The wallet picks up residue from being handled by, or in the presence, of a seller. In this embodiment, the seller is also photographed with camera 410 when the wallet opens. Flashlamp 420 is responsive to a synchronization signal from camera. 410. Camera 410 transmits images over transceiver 141 to a plurality of remote locations.

To the extent that only dishonest or corrupt sellers fear accountability, it zua,y suffice to have only the flashlamp 420 without the camera 410, so a s to create the element of fear among the dishonest. In marry of these embodiments, a large number of fake units that look like the real ones, with only a few real units, would suffice to frighten corrupt sellers, forcing them to remain on their best behaviour at a,ll times since they would never know whether or not they are being remotely monitored or the like.
FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of the invention built into a, wristwatch 500.
Cam-era, 510 may be aimed by the wearer whc> is looking at screen 520, such that camera 510 can he used to take a high quality picture or video of au vendor, seller, or man-ager standing behind a co~znter or the like. Wristwatc:lz 500 nza,y be aimed by setting the wrist upon a counter in a natural fashion, so that a picture of an official ma,y be taken without the knowledgee of the official.
In some embodiments of the invention, a cable 560 is connected to a, wearable computer 570. Wearable computer 570 comprises battery pac;lc 572, computter cpu 574, and communications system 576 which transmits pictures by wa.y of antenna 578. Preferably images are transmitted by FTP (file transfer protocol) or PTP
(Pic-ture Transfer Protocol) to special incoming-only acconznts so that, the user of the wristwatch cannot delete them (a,nd therefore cannot be forced against his or her will to delete the pictures).
In an~>ther embodiment of the invention, all components may be built directly inside wristwatch 500 rather than using a separate wearable computer.
Wristwatch 500 contains a second camera 550 which will take a, picture of an official who asks to see the wearer"s wristwatch. The wristwatch is also equipped with a fingerpriat scanner 200 which the wearer cam ask am official to press in order to view leis or her online electronic identification. In this way the user c:au use the wristwatch embodiment of the invention as an electronic purse to make a purchase and record the process of the purchase loy way of cameras and fingerprint, scanner 200.
From the foregoing description, it will thus be evident that the present invention provides a design for a personal Point of Purchase terminal to empower the buyer by allowing the buyer to direct at least some aspects of the logistics of the process of buying and selling goods or semic:es. As various changes can be made in the a,l>ove embodiments and operating methods without depa,rtimg from the spirit or scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Variations or modifications to the design and construction of this invention, within the scope of the invention, may occur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure herein. Such variations or modifications, if within the spirit of this invention, are intended to be encompassed within the scope of a,ny claims to patent protection issuing upon this invention.
'?8

Claims (24)

1. A Point of Purchase terminal for use by a buyer, comprising ~ a personal space for containing payment, ~ payment contained by said personal space, ~ an identifier, for identifying at least one of:
- an identifying feature of a seller, - an evidentiary aspect of a seller's establishment;
said identifier operable in conjunction with providing said payment to said seller.

2. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1, where said identifier includes a camera, said camera activated when said personal space is opened.

3. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1, further including wireless communicator for communicating with a buyer protection network.

4. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 3, where said identifying feature of a seller, or said evidentiary aspect of a seller's establishment, is transmitted and recorded at at least one remote location, by way of said wireless communicator.

5. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1, said identifier embodied as a function of a reality mediator, said reality mediator including a visual filter for filtering out unwanted advertisements.

6. A buyer-controlled purchasing system, including the Point of Purchase terminal of Claim 1, said purchasing system also including a reality mediator, said reality mediator including a visual attention broken.

7. A buyer-controlled purchasing system, including the Point of Purchase terminal of Claim 1, said purchasing system also including a visual filter, and at least one of ~ a visual attention broker, ~ a stabilizer and destabilizer, ~ a dynamic range expander and compressor.

8. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1, including a wrist worn housing having a visual display, a processor or computer; and a camera, where said visual display is responsive to an output of said processor or computer, and said processor or computer is responsive to an output of said camera.

9. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where said personal space may be rendered unopenable by said buyer, said personal space remaining openable by said seller.

10. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 9 where said identifier is activated when said seller opens said personal spare.

11. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where said payment includes a buyer anonymity protector.

12. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where at least some components of said Point of Purchase terminal are tethered to said buyer by a security tether.

13. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 12 where said tether is a wireless chemical tether.

14. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 11 where said personal space is a container for carrying at least some cash.

15. A system including the Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where said system further includes a computer or processor.

16. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where said identifier includes a card reader to read the identity of a seller. as alleged by a seller bearing an identity card.

17. The Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 1 where said identifier includes a reader to read a seller's vendor's permit, said vendor's permit embodied in an electronic device carried by, worn by, or implanted in said seller.

18. A Point of Purchase system comprising:
~ a container for payment, ~ payment contained in said container, ~ a lock for said container which cannot be opened by an owner of said container. during certain times in at least one mode of operation of said Point of Purchase system, ~ a processor or computer, ~ an identifier for acquiring at least a portion of an evidentiary trail from a seller or seller's establishment.
~ an operational concealing system for concealing whether said lock is responsive to an input from said identifier, or whether said lock is unlocked voluntarily by said buyer.

19. The. Point of Purchase terminal described in Claim 18, where said personal safety system further includes chemical protection means for deterrence of the bypassing of said lock by an attacker.

20. A buyer controlled purchasing system for preventing the theft of visual attention or mental visual processing resources, said purchasing system including a reality mediator and a visual filter, and at least one of ~ a visual attention broker, ~ a stabilizer and destabilizer, ~ a dynamic range expander and compressor.

21. The buyer-controlled purchasing system of Claim 20, including a dynamic range compressor having an equation given by:
f(q)=(e b q a/(e b q a +1))c (0.11)

22. The buyer-controlled purchasing system of Claim 20, further including means for conditional blocking of advertisements, said means responsive to payment to the wearer of said apparatus, advertisements being blocked when said payment is not received, and allowed when said payment is received.

23. The buyer-controlled purchasing system of Claim 20, further including means for conditional mediation of the visual perception of advertisements, by a wearer of said system, said means responsive to payment to the wearer of said apparatus.

24. The buyer controlled purchasing system of Claim 20, further including means for insertion of hyberlinks into the visual reality stream of a wearer of said system, said means responsive to input from a Point of Purchase terminal operable by said buyer, said Point of Purchase terminal containing payment for items depicted by said hyberlinks.