Vending Machines About To Get A Whole Lot Smarter

N&W, the automated retailer, is looking to launch 5,000 “smart vending machines” across the U.S. next year, powered by Intel technology.

As reported by SlashGear on Tuesday (Aug. 18) and announced by Intel that same day at IDF, the machines will function primarily as “interactive billboards,” and a demo brought onstage by Intel during its own presentation showed that large displays employed both glass panels and transparent screens.

Perhaps of greater interest: Cameras inside the machine can use information about consumers as soon as they step up to the displays. The cameras could function in a way to capture salient data, such as gender and age range, and that data in turn would be sent to N&W servers. The company could then offer feedback to snack vendors, for example, which would be able to monitor how well products are selling and who is buying them (or not) at a given location.

Known as the RealSense camera, the technology shown by Intel also is able to track the hand movements of consumers who are in front of (but not touching) the display. As SlashGear noted, the lack of touch in the purchasing process may appeal to those with health concerns. A survey earlier this year noted that cashless payments remain the preferred method of purchase at vending machines.

With the machines slated to come on board in the United States in the early part of 2016, Intel and N&W seem poised to capitalize on some notable, fast-growing retail trends. Automated vending is an industry that is worth as much as $42 billion in the U.S. on an annual basis, and, of course, vendors would be interested in hallmarks of the high-tech vending, which include stock management and feedback to suppliers that can help boost sales, reported SlashGear.

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