vending machine
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Japan takes vending machines to their logical, 47-inch touchscreen extreme
Time for us to admit another entrant into the hall of unnecessary, but cool inventions. Installed at Tokyo's Shinagawa Station yesterday, this latest spin on the vending machine dispenses with those silly windows unto what you're buying and furnishes its user with a 47-inch touch panel from which to make his (or her) selection. An embedded camera will recognize your gender and age, allowing the machine to recommend a beverage suitable to whatever stereotype is attached to your particular circumstances. And don't worry, it'll store your purchasing history too, so you can be freaked out by tailored ads every time you use it. 500 more of these WiMAX-equipped units are planned to be installed in and around Tokyo over the next two years, with operating company JR East expecting them to tally up 30 percent more sales than their analog brethren. More bling equals higher revenue? Sounds about right. [Thanks, Kyle]%Gallery-99194%
Share Happy vending machine dispenses ice cream for a smile (and your soul)
We thought the Let's Pizza machine was wild, but this next item is downright scary... and delicious! The brainchild of Unilever (the company that owns Ben & Jerry's, Good Humor, Breyers, Klondike, and Wall's), Share Happy is a $20,000 Sapient-built ice cream vending machine that takes your picture, using facial recognition to determine if you're smiling and Photo Booth-esque features (superimposing "funny hats, a mustache, glasses, bow tie, afro hair, things like that," on your mug) to coax you into smiling. And once it determines that you are smiling, it gives you a free ice cream treat -- but not before collecting valuable demographic information by analyzing the image for things like gender and approximate age and asking you to sign away your likeness for promotional use. The images are sent to Unilever HQ a few times an hour, using either Ethernet, WiFi, or 3G. Camera shy? Don't worry, you'll still be able to pay for your junk food the old fashioned way. Currently being tested in Singapore, Lisbon, and Paris, with a UK test planned "soonish." Check the thing out on video by hitting the source link.
Soda machine controlled by iPhone app
Recent MIT comp sci grad Chris Varenhorst found a cheap soda machine on Craigslist a while back, and he decided to do what any self-respecting computer science student would do nowadays: hook it up to the Internet. He created wiring to make the machine believe it had credits whenever a circuit was connected, and then wired that to an Internet service. He also created an iPhone app that sent messages to the server, so he could press a button from anywhere and make the machine dispense a cold drink. Unfortunately, he says he would sometimes press the button while out and about, and come back to his apartment to find a warm beer sitting in the machine. He's graduated now and moving out, so Varenhorst and his roommates decided to sell the machine on eBay, with part of the funds going to charity. It sold for just $76 (not too surprising -- who really needs a soda machine sitting around their house?), but the project itself is very cool.
Hitachi develops biometric payment system, uses it to sell junk food
Looks like Hitachi has made some serious headway on the biometric payment system we first heard about way back in the halcyon days of 2007. According to the Mainichi Daily News, the company is currently testing its Finger Vein Authentication System internally, with the device serving as a method of payment for vending machines and the like. Once it's proven that employees are able to get their Koala's March and Hi-Chew without incident, the plan is to up the ante, with high precision ID systems that combine finger vein and finger print authentication systems for military use.
Redbox puts the kibosh on community-developed iPhone app
Davis Freeberg over at Zatz Not Funny has a detailed post this morning on the takedown of the Inside Redbox Mobile app for the iPhone, which was removed from the App Store at the request of Redbox. If you've never heard of Redbox (I hadn't myself before this morning), it runs DVD rental kiosks in hundreds of supermarkets and other retail locations -- you can walk up, rent a movie from the vending machine, and then return it to any other Redbox kiosk. It's not 100% clear why Redbox objected to the iPhone app; could be a trademark issue, could be that the tool made it too easy to track and use free movie promo codes that ordinarily would require a bit of research. Since most of the functionality is accessible via the redbox.com site anyway, it's fair to ask why Redbox wants to make things more difficult for its customers. Perhaps the rental company has its own iPhone app planned, or it just wants to sort out a few issues with the Inside Redbox developers before giving the green light. If you used the Inside Redbox app, let us know about your experience.
Best Buy vending machines now offering portable games in airports
We live a fairly fast-paced, jet-setting lifestyle -- an unfortunate side-effect of which are the hours of frequent layovers we are forced to suffer while flying between Hugh Hefner's Sky Villa in Vegas and our private, opulent island getaway off the coast of O'ahu. These long stretches are made even more unbearable when we forget to pack our handhelds -- a situation that often causes us, in a sheer fit of boredom, to overdose on Dramamine and attempt to ride the baggage carousel.Luckily, we'll never again have to know the firm, rubber-gloved grip of an annoyed Air Marshal -- Best Buy recently began offering DS Lites and select DS titles in their Best Buy Express vending machines. These machines are located at several major airports throughout the U.S., and sell a number of important devices for travelers, such as headphones, chargers, and most recently, Pokémans catching simulators.
UK vending machines that sell PS3 games revealed
Stuff is reporting that Sony and Universal have teamed up to create PoP "entertainment vending machines" to be distributed across the UK "in cinemas, gyms, universities and travel stations" this holiday season. In addition to selling PS3 titles, these babies will sell DVDs, Blu-ray movies, and direct music/movie downloads to your MP3, MP4 player, or an SD card. Check it out in action in a video here.Similar machines have been spotted in the US for several years now, but they seem to have been limited to mostly airports. Do you think we'll ever see one of these vending machines in a local shopping center?[Via Engadget]
Sony and Universal launching POP "instant entertainment" vending machines in UK
Sure, downloading songs and movies is easy these days (even when done legally), but what if you don't have a computer or internet connection? "How would I be reading this post, then?" you might ask. Fair point, but there must be dozens of other people out there with portable media players yet no way to fill them, and for this market Sony and Universal have partnered to create POP, the "instant entertainment 24/7" vending machine hitting the UK this holiday season. Unlike other boxes that sell media players, this one sells content to fill them, downloaded straight to a memory card, flash drive, PMP, or other (USB-supporting) portable device. You can also purchase media-based content on DVD and Blu-ray if you like, games too, all of which "pop" out shrink wrapped and in full retail garb. Being able to buy a Blu-ray disc at midnight on a dark corner sounds mildly interesting, but with no mention of file formats or DRM or anything else, you won't find us sticking our memory cards into this thing's slots anytime soon.
Coca-Cola readying 100-flavor soda fountains
Your typical soda fountain in a fast-food joint features eight boring choices, usually offering nothing more exotic than "Orange." It's been that way for decades, but one of the oldest players in the market is finally shattering that paradigm. Coca-Cola is introducing a machine that can pour 100 different flavors. Early prototypes underwent testing earlier this summer and second-gen units are headed for limited markets early next year -- the same thing they said about those self-cooling bottles last year. Assuming they do come to market, swapping out the highly-concentrated flavors is likened to changing a print cartridge, meaning new choices can come and go quickly depending on popularity. It all sounds refreshing, but we're not looking forward to the lines as the thirsty yet indecisive ponder 15 different flavors of Diet Coke.
Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine smashes fine china, doesn't give your quarter back
Proving that money can indeed buy happiness, artist Yarisa Kublitz's Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine vends various fine china into a fine powder. We're confident there's a reason destroying a porcelain kitty costs $.25 more than a plain white vase, but we'll leave speculation on the deeper meanings of smashy time as an exercise for the reader. Essays are due Friday at noon in the main department box.[Via MAKE]
Japanese vending machine offers free drinks for watching ads
In a marketing case that just sounds too good to be true, vending masters Apex Corp. have purportedly laid out plans that will bring free or subsidized non-alcoholic beverage to thirsty consumers who are willing to watch a 30-second commercial before partaking. Aiming to launch next month in Japan, the MediCafe project will give users the option of plunking down the ¥70 ($0.58) to ¥120 ($1) required to purchase an item, or watching an advertisement for half a minute while the machine dispenses their liquid of choice. It was noted that not all drinks would be free, as some advertisers would only be offering up discounts in exchange for your attention, but this still sounds like a much more legitimate way to receive gratis soft drinks than other alternatives we've seen.[Via PlasticBamboo]
Kingston unveils flash storage vending machine in UK
We wouldn't recommend hopping on the next non-stop flight to London Gatwick Airport's North Terminal or anything, but for those passing through in dire need of an extra SD / CF card or USB drive, Kingston's got your back. Joining SIM cards, iPods, digicams, shoes, and all sorts of other bizarre goods, Kingston's self-branded vending machine will doll out presumably overpriced flash memory to travelers in need. Reportedly, New Jersey-based MyMemory will be operating the machines, and of course, they will all be open 24/7 for your late night (and mid-day) flash storage requirements. Interestingly, the UK units will supposedly utilize the oft hacked Chip & PIN technology, which means the countdown to gobs of free memory (and a high-speed police chase) has officially begun.[Via EverythingUSB]
Flickr find: Someone forgot to restock the vending machine!
Somewhere in a San Francisco hotel, California, there's a vending machine stocked with snacks, beverages, and some stale iPod shuffles. Let's hope the consumables are refreshed more often than the iPods!I wonder why we aren't seeing more of these? iPod vending machines, I mean. For a while there it looked like every airport, hotel and assorted lobby vending machine was going to be filled to the brim with iPods. I hardly ever see them myself, though.
Soda machine "hack" yields extra beverages
C'mon, we've all wondered just what it'd take to nab an extra snack or soft drink from that soulless, computerized vending machine, right? Even if you haven't pondered such mischievous thoughts, you've probably muttered to yourself more than once how the robo-fridge took your money and didn't give you a tasty treat. So this "hack" goes out to you with a bone to pick, here's how to turn the tables on those carbonated money snatchers. In a video documentary shot by two (intelligently) undisclosed individuals, they trick one of those fancy conveyor belt-equipped pop boxes into thinking it has failed at dispersing the requested beverage. Once it believes that you're fuming mad and only moments away from striking the machine, it simply returns your money while the drink remains on the belt. If you haven't figured out the rest, you simply reinsert your recently refunded coinage, and repeat the process until the belt runs out of room (or you hear someone coming). While this one may not be not founded on more idealistic principles, we can bet it sure feels good to know if we really wanted to be, we could finally be on the duping end of the ever-dubious soda machine confrontation -- now, somebody give this a whirl on one of those iPod / digicam vending machines. [Read link possibly NSFW.][Thanks, RedBull Runner]
