InComm Payments’ Go Studio and Kennesaw State University have launched a three-year research project on the in-store shopping experience. The opening phase will study how customers interact with gift card aisles, using computer vision to examine browsing behavior and reactions to product displays.

The work is funded by InComm and brings together Go Studio staff with university researchers and students led by Dr. Bobin Deng in Kennesaw State’s computer science department. The partners said the first year would focus on technology that analyzes images to identify information about shoppers’ interactions with the assortment.

A central aim is to inform planograms, the layouts retailers use to decide where products appear. Go Studio head Michael Parlotto said a large selection of gift card brands can still result in a lost sale when shoppers cannot find the product they came to buy.

The research expands a relationship that began with student projects exploring artificial intelligence in 2020. By the announcement, Go Studio had sponsored nine Kennesaw State capstone projects, alongside other activities including hackathons and internships.

Kennesaw State said the partnership would give students experience applying AI to business problems. For InComm, the project connects research into retail displays with a commercial category where physical merchandising remains an important part of gift card discovery and purchase.