Fujitsu's RFID and LCD equipped Shopping Navis Wagon

Fujitsu has played around with smart shopping carts before, but this time they're throwing RFID into the mix to ensure the least possible interactions with any humanoid lifeforms during your trip to the supermarket. The Shopping Navis Wagon sports an LCD to display in-depth information for products you scan, along with the usual store directory and promotional info, and we're guessing the cart can ring up your price as you go, so now all they'll need to add is an on the go blink card reader and your shopping experience can have all the fun of shoplifting, minus the cost effectiveness.

[Via Akihabara]

[Eric N. @ Jan 25th 2006 9:19PM]

"to ensure the least possible interactions with any humanoid lifeforms during your trip to the supermarket"

If I were drinking something as I read this, it would of been all over my keyboard.

Great stuff!

[Craig @ Jan 25th 2006 9:39PM]

Awesome, now stealing carts isn't just for the homeless. Any tech specs for these things? I want ten.

[Brett @ Jan 25th 2006 9:42PM]

Years back, must have been at least 10 by now, a local supermarket near my house had LCD screens on all thier shopping carts. You could view where a particular item was located and would even give estimated totals and show you where you were located in the store. Amazing stuff, for me at least, back in the day. I have always wondered if that store was just a test market or if I would ever see these 'smart carts' again.....glad to see it wasnt just some off daydream ;)

[XGM @ Jan 25th 2006 10:10PM]

OMG is it me or is all this new stuff just getting us to be lazy ? Relly i dont care either way, im never gonna use these cuz im not that lazy.

[tiuk @ Jan 26th 2006 12:10AM]

Yeah, XGM, you're right! I bet you don't own a microwave either, do you? Taking seconds to heat up food? Pffft! The oven works perfectly fine! You know, really, who needs ATM cards? They're just for people who are too lazy to make trips to the bank. Shall I continue?

[edan Shekar @ Jan 26th 2006 1:13AM]

Now what happens when this $800+ cart goes missing? What kind of security are they going to have in place after strapping a tablet and other hardware to a cart. I mean call me crazy, but tons of carts go missing w/o expensive hardware strapped to them, what are all the 15 year old shopping cart thieves going to do now???

[John Stracke @ Jan 26th 2006 11:19AM]

Am I the only one who first read that as "Shopping Nazis"?

[tiuk @ Jan 26th 2006 1:11PM]

edan - That's a good point, and I'm sure they've thought of it. There was an episode of CSI once that featured a death in a laundromat, and the place had these carts that would automatically lock down the wheels if they were pushed too far from the store. Now, I assume that such a system exists in the real world and not just CSI.

I'm not sure if that'd be useful for these at all, I guess it depends how firmly affixed to the card the tablet is.

[Allen @ Jan 26th 2006 2:20PM]

tiuk - A lot of stores in the Pacific Northwest (Portland in particular) have those shopping cart locks already in place. I specifically remember going into a Walgreen's that has such a system. I believe it is proximity-based (i.e. if a shopping cart gets more than x feet away from the storefront, the wheels lock).

[Joseph @ Jan 26th 2006 6:24PM]

WOWW- I definetily had this idea for an invention about 5 years ago

[Webdog @ Jan 26th 2006 6:29PM]

MaxSMoke, that might be part of the security... I mean, if you can only buy an armload of groceries, then you never have to take their $800+ cart outside the store... into the rain, and the snow.

[anibal @ May 5th 2009 9:51AM]

Gps should be included in each cart, showing also some movie while u shop.Somalia and Nigeria are having these carts all arounf town, they are very useful