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'Smart' Vending Machines Triple Sales

Posted by Soulskill on from the by-tom-cruise's-eyeballs dept.

bossanovalithium writes "A vending machine in Japan which recommends drinks to customers based on facial recognition data has tripled sales. JR East Water Business has previously installed two vending machines in JR Shinagawa station and it is believed that the recognition technology is responsible for a vast increase in sales in comparison to traditional machines. The vending machines recommend beverages after physical attributes of customers are picked up by sensors which allow the machines determine age, sex and other attributes, before offering a number of suggestions."

11 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Recommending beverages after physical attributes by decipher_saint · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Do the machines call out? If they do I hope they sound like Bender (but you know, in Japanese):

    "Hey fatass, got a nice 200 oz can of fried chicken here!"

    "Hey baby! All the supermodels are drinking Diet Water, what's your deal?"

    And so forth...

    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  2. Lawsuit city! by snarfies · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can't wait until a big fatso waddles up to one of these machines in America so I can see what the machine recommends. It either recommends a Diet Coke, because you're fat and need to lose a few (dozen), or it offers you a regular Coke, because it knows you probably drink a LOT of it. Its a lawsuit either way. Either the fatso has their feelings hurt and sues for emotional damage, or some random do-gooder sues for pushing sugary drinks to those who lack the willpower to say "no."

    1. Re:Lawsuit city! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Problem is - this kind of profiling isn't against the law.

      Where's the lawsuit about Tab Energy being marketted directly towards women?

      Go look for it. That should keep you buys for a while.

    2. Re:Lawsuit city! by natehoy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Very true, but GP wasn't talking about being "arrested for breaking the law", he was talking about "being sued for emotional damage" or being sued for "pushing sugary drinks to those who lack the willpower to say "no"".

      Sadly, you don't have to violate an actual law to be sued. You only have to be found responsible for harm done to someone else, and that harm can be as a result of perfectly legal actions.

      In fact, the fact I can be sued for doing something legal makes me sad. I should sue the ambulance-chasers for destroying my quality of life.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    3. Re:Lawsuit city! by Cwix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Alright, I believe wearing a medical mask in public to be insulting. So all the Asians who come to visit, and wear those damned masks must take them off immediately.

      Get real. This isn't them stomping around someones house in muddy shoes. Its carrying a bottle of water around with you. If they honestly find it that offensive, I will take my tourist dollars elsewhere.

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
    4. Re:Lawsuit city! by Cwix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you want to be a person, and not an ahole.. well perhaps you should put some effort into keeping your mouth shut if you feel yourself about to insult someone.

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
  3. I have lower standards. by dtmos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd be satisfied just with a vending machine that (a) was stocked with what I want, and (b) didn't steal my money when I tried to buy it.

  4. Needed some more filler for the article by cupantae · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But the new technology offers some frightening prospects. With machines telling us what to drink how long until we are told what to eat and what to wear? The idea of a 1984-style Big Brother state fronted by the double-headed hydra that is a computerised Trinny and Susanna is almost too scary.

    Even for a joke, seriously, what? How is personalised advertisement anything close to what you just said?

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  5. Sounds like hype. by chemicaldave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I imagine most people are trying these now for the novelty of it all. That might be the whole point, but if I normally didn't use vending machines then this probably wouldn't make me use it more than once or twice to see what it does. If I were the owner, I'd set it to recommend more expensive drinks.

  6. Re:I wonder... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That depends, you go to it often enough, and the data it's collected will say "In my personal experience as a vending machine, quite a few people with facial hair and mohawks like iced tea". And then it'll offer you iced tea.

  7. Re:Recommending beverages after physical attribute by Migraineman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    More than likely, OmniBot 6000 recommends the most expensive item currently in inventory, and tells you the selection is based on a "complex algorithm involving facial analysis."