Is this the future of shopping?

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My first instinct when reading this article was "wow". A german supermarket retailer 'Metro', is using cutting edge technology in order to process and assist the operations of a supermarket.

New high tech tills use multimedia databases, and iage recognition technology to discern items identities, by taking a snap shot of the item on the till with a digital camera, cross checking the image with recognisable matches within the database (of items the supermarket sells) and then also cross checks this with the barcode. amazing!

Not stoppping there, you can look for any item in the supermarket by using a touch screen interface. Then using a map of the store it will tel lyou the location of the item, as well as the price etc.

This is the bridge of technology and retail strategies that retailers have been longing for for years. How long do you think it will be before our supermarkets utilise such technology?

Thinking about it, if it does take off, this technology could grow to other areas of retail, such as clothing, consumer electronics....

Furthermore, how long will it be before machines replace workers, as the need for them becomes less and less. The future is here ladies and gentlemen, and although it looks bright, it also looks metallic, shiny, and robotic.