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Dec 14, 2023

No cash, no cashier: AI

Grab. Place. Pay. That’s the methodology behind Caper Counter, the latest

Grab. Place. Pay.

That's the methodology behind Caper Counter, the latest addition to Fenway Park. The tabletop checkout system allows customers to purchase items — Coke, peanuts, and candy, for example — that are identified by cameras, rather than cashiers.

It should make paying faster, said Ahmed Beshry, senior director of business development at Instacart, the grocery delivery start-up behind the Counter.

"The idea is to get people in and out as quickly as possible," Beshry said.

In theory, the system demands only 15 seconds of a customer's time. In testing, Fenway food service vendor Aramark found that Caper Counter decreased individual checkout times by 70 percent. And in practice, it seems to work. Fans place products on a black surface, with five cameras positioned to identify their purchase — no matter how they’re positioned or how many items there are.

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"You could put down a beer can sideways and a bag of peanuts upside down, and the cameras will still be able to tell what they are," said Beshry. "A family could all put their hands in. It would be no problem."

The items — and their prices — then load onto a large tablet to the right of the Counter, where fans can pay with a credit card or an eligible Red Sox loyalty program. At least one employee is stationed next to the Counter to troubleshoot, prevent stealing, and guide customers in line.

Currently, there are three operational Counters at Fenway: one at Walk Through Bru and two at Truly Terrace, the new 8,800-square-foot open-air concourse space located at the back of the bleachers. Most concessions are still paid to a cashier, for now.

"The goal is to expand and bring more Counters to Fenway soon," said Kaitlyn Carl, senior communications manager at Instacart.

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Beshry said the cameras can pick out the snacks because of an extensive on-boarding process. Before the Counters opened, employees scanned the barcode of each item for sale and allowed the cameras to take "photos" from every angle — a way to train the systems’ artificial intelligence.

And while cameras are involved, privacy is not a concern, Beshry added. "The system isn't taking fingerprints, and it can't even see people's faces."

Caper Counter was founded in 2015 and first unveiled its checkout system last fall at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Heinz Park, where it operates eight machines. The San Francisco startup was acquired by Instacart in October.

The Worcester Red Sox installed similar technology at their Polar Park last year. There, Standard AI created a marketplace that sells snacks and WooSox memorabilia using AI and ceiling cameras. The system tracks customers’ chosen products in a "digital cart" and completes the transaction in a phone application.

But Lindon Gao, Instacart's vice president of engineering, said requiring fans to download an app creates an unnecessary barrier. Plus, he said, cameras scattered around the ceiling at Polar Park require more calibration and maintenance than five stationery cameras on a Caper Counter box.

"Think about a stadium," he said. "You just want to grab something and run. The fewer steps, the better."

The Counter installation is part of the Fenway's larger effort to eliminate the long lines that can slow down snack buying. Ahead of opening day, the park converted to entirely cashless payments and instructed fans with cash to load their money onto Mastercards at new Cash-2-Card exchange kiosks.

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So far this season, reviews are mixed. A handful of fans e-mailed the Globe to complain about the hand-held payment systems, which they say stall transactions. One sent photos of hawkers with wads of cash in hand, after the park had formally switched to plastic-only.

Jim Lowell, who attended a game last weekend, recounted an unfortunate hot dog-buying experience.

"When it was time to use my new ‘Fenway debit card,’ the hot dog guy couldn't get it to execute, whether [from] lack of WiFi or server error, he did not know," Lowell said. "All he knew was that a 2-minute transaction became a 7-minute ordeal."

But Peter Nesbit, senior vice president of ballpark operations at Fenway, said the transition has gone smoothly.

"Overall, we are happy with the transition to a cashless environment here at the ballpark over the first weekend," he wrote in an e-mail. "We will continue to work with staff and fans to make sure any issues that do arise are quickly addressed."

Diti Kohli can be reached at [email protected] her on Twitter @ditikohli_.