Drinks vending machines are as ubiquitous as Japanese people in Japan. The vast majority, which are found in stations, shopping centers and street corners Japan-over simply require you to push a button next to a plastic bottle of your choice. I’ve found one that bucks the trend.
A large grey and black box with its cartoon eyes standing alone against the wall in Akihabara station. It displays a virtual line-up of drinks on a massive 47 inch touch screen.
What makes this vending machine any different than the other vending machines they have in the entire country? These next-generation vending machines are deployed with hopes of increasing sales to entice the general customers through better targeted advertising.
There is a camera with sensors embedded which will recognise your gender and age, which allows the machine to recommend a suitable beverage depending on the user profile. If the machine detects a male user, it will recommend a sports drink, and if it detects a female user it will recommend tea.
You can even click on the screen and interact with the drink that you’re about to buy. Even Orwell wouldn’t have thought this stuff up.
Payment like the current vending machine can be paid with contactless Suica cards, cash but now payment is possible with mobile phones. When the sale has been completed, it will display a cute “thank you” message.
The machine has a system to display advertising when it is not in use. Also it can provide recommendations appropriate to the time of day, temperature and season. For example, if it is a hot summer day, it will recommend a cold drink and if it’s cold winter day, it will recommend a hot drink. Convenient, I guess?
