Talk about some kind of an weird Coke-machine-meets-Minority Report mash-up, but the day is here where vending machines will do virtual reality tricks, access your Facebook page, and be as much fun as Grand Theft Auto. And they’ll still dispense stuff.
By Jeff Moriarty (Custom Coke machine – operating screen) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
These vending machines will be IoT-enabled, connected to the cloud and multiple online databases, and equipped with multiple cameras. Onboard signal processing will respond to 3D gesture control or immerse you in a virtual reality scenario with the product you’re trying to buy. Facial recognition, voice recognition, and even following your eyes as you roam the screens will be the norm.
Facial recognition via Intel’s Perceptual Computing SDK. (Courtesy: Intel Corporation.)
For you, the customer, the vending machine experience will be fun, entertaining—and very much like a video game. For the retailer, they’re hoping to make more money off of you while using remote IoT monitoring, predictive diagnostics, and “big data” to lower their costs.
The era of the intelligent vending machine is upon us. The machine’s already connected to the Internet…and one of many billions of smart IoT nodes coming to a store near you.
Read more about them here.
