Saturday, January 15, 2011

Smart vending machine unveiled to help make decision

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The state-backed Institute for Information Industry (III) launched Thursday a vending machine it says can make product selection choices for consumers by identifying their faces.

The so-called "intelligent" vending machine, which can tell a person's gender, age, hair color, skin color, as well as whether the person has a beard or spectacles, will be able to recommend what it "thinks" is suitable merchandise to customers after it has detected their faces, III section manager Chiu Jing-ming told a press conference to introduce the machine.

Consumers' choices will be collected and stored by software connected to the Internet through fixed or wireless networks, which will help retailers to analyze consumers' preferences, according to Chiu.

"Eventually, we want to use this technology to build a fully automatic and smart retail store that does not require clerks and can do business more efficiently," he added.

The machine can also automatically detect any electronic devices the consumer might be carrying, such as smartphones, e-readers or tablets, enabling easy access for downloading e-books, music or films offered by the machine.

SOURCE

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