Kinect Grocery Cart Follows Shoppers Around the Store

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."

Comments

"25% off whole grain cereal"

[GodfatherofSoul]

Please place the item in your cart. You have 20 seconds to comply.

Re:"25% off whole grain cereal"

[Yvan256]

We need a new "That meme is not funny anymore" moderation choice.

What happens when the shop is overcrowded...

[ArsenneLupin]

... and the cart can't find its way around the other shoppers. Remember, compared to its "owner" the cart is rather bulky, and may have some trouble advancing in situations which pose no problem for the owner...

This is a pointless invention.

[Karmashock]

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.

Re:This is a pointless invention.

[Karmashock]

First, you're being exceeding and entirely unnessarily rude. Rather then appear superior, this sort of behavior makes you appear childish. This is just a word to the wise in case you weren't aware pointless insults make you sound stupid.

Second, obviously people get paid. However, there is an expense in maintaining retail space in the middle of a city. There is an expense to issuing mail coupons. There is an expense to having check out baggers in the store. There is an expense to having the managers. there is an expense to send trucks to the store and unload goods.

I am hoping that by eliminating all of that there is enough savings to pay for the cost of having a truck deliver to the door directly. For example, leasing space often is 5 percent or a little less of total spending. By not having a store front they eliminate that and get five percent right there. Total number of employees per customer should also be reduced. Labor costs are typically the largest expense in any business. Any thing that can bring those costs down will probably have a big impact on the bottom line.

So the economics aren't that irrational. Had you bothered to think about it a bit before acting like a spoiled child... you might have realized that. I suspect you're too interested in protecting your ego at this point to actually give the idea a fair hearing. But this is my likely vain attempt to have a rational discussion with you.

Why walk the isles at all?

[Picass0]

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.

Wobbly wheel

[need4mospd]

Even with these automated carts, I'll still get the one that pulls to the left and sounds like a hyena got caught in the wheel.