Intel and Kraft Foods have together come out with a ‘smart’ vending machine which can reportedly detect the age and gender of a buyer.
Named iSample, it has been deployed to serve new types of desserts only to adults. This is in order that Kraft will be able to understand what each shopper wants.
Intel stated that this offering is only meant for adults and is designed to prevent serving products under age children.
According to the company, the new vending machines will help companies identify exactly profiles of the customers purchasing their products.
An optical sensor fitted to the top of the machine detects the human face’s shape. This image will be sent back to a computer processor that performs various of calculations on the face, in order to determine the shopper’s gender and classifying them into one of four age brackets.
Intel’s general manager of personal solutions Michelle Tinsley told the BBC that it is actually very quick – it’s a fraction of a second.
"It does the calculations very quickly right there on the machine – it does not need to go off into the Internet or cloud – and then based on that will recognise that you fit a certain demographic," Tinsley added.
