Prism Skylabs has developed a product that offers real-time updates on a store using footage from security cameras. The product, which is undergoing a trial run at a few small stores, sees itself as offering “analytics” on coffee shops, boutiques, and other locations.

“We bring spaces online so that businesses and consumers can understand and engage each other,” Ron Palmeri, president and co-founder of Prism Skylabs, told reporters. “It’s like Google Analytics for physical spaces where you can see how many people are in a store, and how long they stay for.”

Palmeri said that the data gathered by his company will help customers and storeowners alike better understand the dynamics of a location. Privacy is a concern, Palmeri said, but his company has developed a technology that obscures the faces of shop occupants, wiping their faces from the image.

“Cameras are everywhere, with a little bit of software in the cloud, we’re trying to create uses that are beneficial to business owners and customers,” Palmeri said.

Read more at The New York Times ^[1].