Tech Beat: Digital shopping moves from the Internet to real life
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The shopping experience of the future is much deeper than the days of simply walking into a store, browsing the racks and picking up a favorite product.
At the National Retail Federation's annual Big Show Convention, there was a big push toward blending the online shopping experience with the real-world, in-store shopping experience.
More often than not, the tool that will make that happen is one's cell phone. For example, a new kiosk by IBM knows who the user is and what he or she might want, based on information from a cell phone.
Utilizing location-based services, we recognize that you're standing next to the device. So the kiosk knows my size, it knows the types of products I like," IBM spokesperson Errol Denger said. "It also has an interactive dressing room so we know everything you've looked at as well and what you've purchased. Now you can really pull together the perfect outfit."
Developers say the kiosk is about a year or two away.
Parents who caved and bought their children an Xbox 360 and the motion-sensing Kinect add-on can use the system for themselves through a service called "Swivel." The service allows users to virtually grab stuff off store shelves and even try it all on right there in one's living room. The technology will be available later this year.
"Just step up in front of the camera and you use the same gestural interface you'd use with Xbox, and before you know if you're trying on a great ski look or beach look or formal gown, it's such a benefit also to be able to try like a jacket and a tie or a dress and a necklace and a purse all at one time," FaceCake spokesperson Linda Smith said.
When it comes to vending machines, they’re also getting more digital. One particular model from Intel and Kraft Foods allows users to taste a sample before buying anything. Also, the machine can be changed remotely so it can convert from purely for taste tests to a fully-functioning vending machine.
"As a meal sampling, it's just a free thing. And then you would take it and say 'Wow, I love this Jell-O Temptations, I'm going go to the store and buy it.' When it's a vending machine, you can just buy it right there," Intel spokesperson Chris O'Malley said.
The machine is right now being tested in the Big Apple and in Chicago.
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