In today's world of modern technology and globalisation, consumers deal with a wide variety of brands selling very similar products to choose from. To determine which of these products are more popular than others, Md. Rakin Sarder Arko has come up with an invention that records the activity around a product in supermarkets, without violating the privacy of the customers and at the same time, helping entrepreneurs understand their preferences. 

The system is developed with the simplest components--an ultrasonic distance sensor, a mini servo motor, an Arduino microprocessor and processing programming language. "It becomes a great challenge for the entrepreneurs and the shop managers to identify the popular products," says Arko, "This identification helps them make decisions regarding future supplies of the products," he explains. "To solve this challenge I have developed a small, cheap, yet effective system of detecting and tracking the popular products, with a live update feed and also an interpreter which at the end of the day, finds the most popular product based on a measuring scale of customers activities," he shares.

This mechanism can also be used in art galleries, showrooms, security systems etc. "The current version of the project is the first of its kind and is a prototype for three products only," he says. "I am currently looking for field implementation of this prototype, completing the benchmarking of the project and surveying the reactions of the entrepreneurs," he continues. "Also, I am planning to add IR sensors which will be able to detect humans instantly, and more functionality like live data feed, smart phone controlling etc. Apart from that, I am planning to design a complete system for mega shops for all their products."