A system providing self-service access to locked merchandise comprising: (a) providing a fixture that restricts access to the locked merchandise, wherein the fixture can automatically lock or unlock, allowing or restricting access to the locked merchandise; (b) providing a means of uniquely identifying an individual attempting to access the merchandise; (c) measuring a set of behaviors of the individual during any time the fixture is an open mode; (d) assessing whether the set of behaviors of the individual are suspicious or not relative to a set of suspicious event thresholds; (e) storing the individual and their set of behaviors as accessible records in at least one database; and (f) providing an algorithm which determines future access privileges of the individual to the enclosure based on a set of variables.

A reduced size optical code identifier includes a transparent body having a flat bottom surface with a rounded or domed top surface that meets the bottom surface around the perimeter of the bottom surface. An optical code is provided in the body adjacent the bottom surface and is visible through the top surface. The top surface is configured to reduce reflection to facilitate optical recognition and decoding of the optical code. The body has a maximum length or diameter of about twelve millimeters or less. The identifier can be placed on an object or structure and then used to associate information with the optical code of the identifier so that the information can be retrieved using a computing device that can optically recognize the code and communicate with a remote server.

A counterfeit paper currency detector with a barcode reading function includes a casing unit receiving a delivering device, a driving device, a paper currency detection device, and a barcode reading device. The delivering device includes a passageway between an upper base and a lower base. The driving device drives a paper currency or a barcode sheet to pass through the passageway. When a paper currency passes through the passageway, a plurality of first paper currency detection units and a plurality of second paper currency detection units of the paper currency detection device examine whether the paper currency is genuine. When a barcode sheet passes through the passageway, a first reading module or a second reading module of the barcode reading device reads widths and spaces of a plurality of bars on the barcode sheet.

The retail cigarette inventory management system forms a containment structure that stores one or more packs of smoking materials. The retail cigarette inventory management system counts the number of individual packs contained in the one or more packs of smoking materials. The retail cigarette inventory management system visibly displays the counted number of individual packs of the one or more packs of smoking materials contained in the retail cigarette inventory management system. The retail cigarette inventory management system visibly displays the number of individual packs contained in the one or more packs of smoking materials.

Image data depicting a 2D machine-readable code is up-sampled and compressed with a lossy compression process before being sent from a client device to a remote server for code reading. The remote server decompresses the sent information, extracts a payload from the machine-readable code, and causes result information to be sent back to the client device for display or other action. The up-sampling and compression operations performed on the client device can employ software instructions that are downloaded to, and executed by, browser software on the client device. Many other features and arrangements are also detailed.

The Tag Element System allows users to create, upload, and share virtual content in the physical world utilizing the Tag Element System platform, “Enhanced Tag Elements”, and a smart device such as a smartphone or tablet. Any user can record a video or create other content and attach it to an Enhanced Tag Element simply by scanning or otherwise interacting with it with their smart device. The system provides a user interface to enable a user to create and upload new content upload previously stored content to the Tag Element System. Once content is uploaded, the user can share the Enhanced Tag Element with another user to allow that user to access, modify, and/or interact with the content.

A device configured to identify a first digital document in a digital document repository, to identify a first graphical code that represents the first digital document, and to send the first graphical code to an approved user device. The device is further configured to obtain a second graphical code that represents a public encryption key for the organization and to extract the public encryption key for an organization from the second graphical code. The device is further configured to obtain a third graphical code from the approved user device. The third graphical code represents a second digital document comprising data and a digital signature that was signed using a private encryption key for the organization. The device is further configured to determine the third graphical code passes validation using the public encryption key for the organization and to store the second digital document in a digital document repository.

A device configured to obtain a first graphical code that represents a public encryption key for an organization and to extract the public encryption key for the organization from the first graphical code. The device is further configured to obtain a second graphical code that represents a digital document comprising data and a digital signature that was signed using a private encryption key for the organization. The device is further configured to extract the digital document from the second graphical code and to validate the second graphical code using the public encryption key for the organization. The device is further configured to determine the second graphical code passes validation using the public encryption key for the organization and to store the digital document in a digital document repository.

A method for exchange of equipment performance data includes the steps of: obtaining performance data of a communicatively-insulated device; converting the performance data into a scannable code; capturing an image of the scannable code; decoding the scannable code using a communicatively-enabled device to extract an address string encoded in the scannable code, the address string comprising an address of a remote server and the performance data; initiating, by the communicatively-enabled device, a communications link with the remote server using the address string thereby to provide the performance data to the remote server; performing, by the remote server, analytics on the performance data; and sending historic device performance data and/or analytical results to a remote computing device and/or sending a link to the historic device performance data and/or analytical results to the remote computing device; wherein the communicatively-insulated device is packaging equipment and wherein obtaining the performance data comprises: running a calibration phantom through the packaging equipment; scanning the calibration phantom with a calibration unit; and using the calibration unit to generate a system status report identifying one or more operational parameters of the packaging equipment.

Security devices having chaosmetric artifacts from fractal patterns are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a security device, having a physical surface having formed thereon a composite pattern. The composite pattern can created from created from joining of an imprint of a first base pattern and an imprint of a second base pattern. The first base pattern can be created from a first basic building block. In one embodiment, the first base pattern is a fractal pattern based on the first basic building block which forms chaosmetric artifacts in the physical surface upon printing.