Kinect Grocery Cart Follows Shoppers Around the Store 155
cylonlover writes "When Chaotic Moon Labs debuted the Kinect-powered Board of Awesomeness — and its mind-reading offspring, the Board of Imagination — that was apparently just a preview of a more practical product the company had in the works. Grocery store chain Whole Foods recently gave a demonstration of Chaotic Moon's latest device, which uses the same technology in a self-propelled shopping cart. The 'Smarter Cart,' as it's been named, can detect what items are placed in it, match those to a shopping list, and even follow shoppers around the store on its own."
This is a pointless invention. (Score:5, Interesting)
If they want to impress me, then find a way to let me order groceries from home to be delivered at my home at no additional charge.
That has to be possible. Look at Amazon with their no shipping charges on anything over 25 dollars rule. If the grocery stores had that it would be amazing. And while some people might like going to the grocery store... I don't like shopping in person.
How great would it be if you could order everything up at home, compare all the prices from a dozen outlets, and get everything you want right to your front door.
Some might say it has to cost extra for that. But does it? Think of what you'd save if you didn't have to have so many grocery stores. Imagine if instead you had a small number of convenience stores for common items and everything else came from warehouses. The warehouses are there anyway. That's where the stores get everything from. So instead of a big truck coming around at 2 AM to restock the grocery store... the trucks instead move around your neighborhood dropping off packages of groceries. Frozen goods can be packed in ice. There is a theft issue there but we can work that out with something that looks like a big specialty mail box.
This is doable and it would be much more efficient. Less traffic on the road. Less real estate wasted on a service that isn't required.
Everything can go from the warehouse to our door step. Just a web prompt in between.
Some people don't have computers? Put a kiosk in the convenience store and they can have it delivered to their home.
Maybe this is a stupid idea... But I'd use it exclusively.
Why walk the isles at all? (Score:5, Interesting)
Without much more difficulty they could automate the whole process:
1) voice recognition or remote interaction with the cart. - The shopper reads their grocery list to the cart and it goes on it's way. Your cart doesn't need to worry about colliding with people so it's free to move much faster on pre-programmed routes.
shopper: "Kellog's flakes"
cart: "Returns three results. Frosted, unfrosted, and with raisins. Please state preference"
or
cart: "Our Great Values store brand costs 20% less. If you were to buy store equivalents today you would save $27.00 total."
The store apps for android and iphone are mostly spamware right now, but you could turn them into automated shopping cart list builders.
2) Shelves use automation to load items onto the cart in a hands free process. Delicate items are loaded in a dedicated area by store staff.
Shoppers wait in the front of the store in an expanded deli area. No checkout, just swipe your credit card and out the door. No more navigating around idiots in scooters. No more shoplifting. No more congested isles.