Europe To Get ''Smart'' Shopping Carts

Jul 20 2006, 7:00am CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

If you live in world's second-smallest continent (that's Europe for you non-geography majors), you may soon be able to walk out of the grocery store with a cart full of groceries without ever having to walk through a checkout line, and you won't even have to face a shoplifting fine.

It's all thanks to a new technology that originated in Asia and is now being brought over to Europe. Essentially, there are proprietarty computers installed into the shopping carts (or "trolleys" as the English guys call them) that allow you to scan products as you add them to your cart, and it keeps track of a running total for you.After you're finished shopping, you just head to an electronic kiosk in the store and pay for your items. Of course, the downside to this is that you don't get to have your groceries bagged. The good part - you don't have to deal with those cashiers who'd rather be hung upside down by their legs over a pit of angry pitbulls.

Also with the in-cart computer, you'll be able to look at a map of the store so you can find the area you're looking for. Testing of this technology is already underway in Germany, with a rollout schedule to other European countries reportedly already in place.

I really can't wait for this to be brought over to the US, and not just in supermarkets. If I could just go into Best Buy and check out without having human contact (read: without being yelled out to buy an extended warranty), I'd be in heaven.

Via Scotsman

Report Published by: Mark Raby

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.