I feel like Sams Club has this down pretty well. You self-scan as you shop. You checkout as you walk towards the door. You flash a QR code to them and then they quick scan spot check items to make sure you weren't missing anything.
Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
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Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#32> Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. That line was unintentionally hilarious to me. Like looking inside a TV and finding a bunch of fast-working little people drawing images.
It isn't that bad an idea. Imagine that next time you are drunk, you can hire a driver who will drive you back home remotely (along with some AI to stop the car in case connection goes away).
This actually exists - testing in Berlin, running in Las Vegas: https://vay.io
Maybe not a bad idea - it is a step towards autonomous driving, and will probably ensure drivers have less unintentional down time.
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#33I think that the scan-as-you-shop style systems are definitely the next realistic step for grocery stores. I really like using them, as they allow me to put stuff directly into my bags as I go. I think a further improvement on a system like that would be to use the cheap RFID tech (UHF EPC) so that when you walk through the anti-theft barriers, the system knows exactly what you got, and then there's no need to scan a…
It's like a gift-registry, but you take all the stuff with you when you're done instead of letting other people buy it for you later. We've got Barcode guns at self-checkout here, and I've begun to arrange my items barcode-up in the cart, so I can just get everything rapidly. I often don't bring my bags with me, because I'm going to have to load everything into the car anyway.
>I often don't bring my bags with me, because I'm going to have to load everything into the car anyway.
Thats an interesting optimization. Don't bag your stuff in the store just walk out with a cart of loose groceries. Especially for someone who simply MUST bring all the groceries inside with one trip, I can just load up a crate.
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree - at a basic level if people are able to tell which products you're picking up the resolution is necessarily high enough that there's a huge creep factor. I am sometimes amazed at what companies will pursue without a glance towards common sense.
Is high enough resolution to identify products more creepy than simple ubiquitous surveillance?
One creepy thing existing doesn't mean that another thing can't also be creepy. Getting rid of one of many creepy things is still nice even if it's not the only one.
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#35> Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. That line was unintentionally hilarious to me. Like looking inside a TV and finding a bunch of fast-working little people drawing images.
It isn't that bad an idea. Imagine that next time you are drunk, you can hire a driver who will drive you back home remotely (along with some AI to stop the car in case connection goes away).
So instead of hiring an uber you're purchasing a car specialicially designed to be controlled remotely by a third party..
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't that bad an idea. Imagine that next time you are drunk, you can hire a driver who will drive you back home remotely (along with some AI to stop the car in case connection goes away).
I disagree - at a basic level if people are able to tell which products you're picking up the resolution is necessarily high enough that there's a huge creep factor. I am sometimes amazed at what companies will pursue without a glance towards common sense.
I'm a huge privacy advocate and don't think stores should track what you buy at all, so don't confuse what I say next with the is/ought fallacy.
They already have perfect resolution and data retention of everything you buy at checkout time when it's scanned, plus they can verify your identity rather than have to rely on facial recognition or other things. I don't think this is any creepier than what they already do so from their perspective it is "common sense."
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#37I think that the scan-as-you-shop style systems are definitely the next realistic step for grocery stores. I really like using them, as they allow me to put stuff directly into my bags as I go. I think a further improvement on a system like that would be to use the cheap RFID tech (UHF EPC) so that when you walk through the anti-theft barriers, the system knows exactly what you got, and then there's no need to scan a…
We've had that in France for years, and noone uses that as far as I can tell. The main usage I see is mainly self checkout. Please note that I'm biased towards dense areas. We have on-the-go scanning in super stores as well, I feel it's not being used but I could be wrong
Yes, same in the UK. Most stores have scan as you shop, but most people do self checkout. I get the impression scan as you shop is seen as being a bit prissy.
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#38I think that the scan-as-you-shop style systems are definitely the next realistic step for grocery stores. I really like using them, as they allow me to put stuff directly into my bags as I go. I think a further improvement on a system like that would be to use the cheap RFID tech (UHF EPC) so that when you walk through the anti-theft barriers, the system knows exactly what you got, and then there's no need to scan a…
> I think a further improvement on a system like that would be to use the cheap RFID tech (UHF EPC) so that when you walk through the anti-theft barriers, the system knows exactly what you got, and then there's no need to scan anything.
Isn't that basically what Amazon had claimed they were doing here, except apparently maybe they weren't?
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#39Wait what? When did they reveal it's offloaded to workers in India? I remember this being touted as fully automated when it was announced, surely being watched by strangers from creepy angles would discourage a large portion of customers.
Sometimes people are lying.
Re: Amazon ditches 'just walk out' checkouts at its grocery stores
#40I think that the scan-as-you-shop style systems are definitely the next realistic step for grocery stores. I really like using them, as they allow me to put stuff directly into my bags as I go. I think a further improvement on a system like that would be to use the cheap RFID tech (UHF EPC) so that when you walk through the anti-theft barriers, the system knows exactly what you got, and then there's no need to scan a…
See also the RFID tags Uniqlo and Decathlon use for self-checkout. You just place your shopping bag in a bin and it reads all the items within in a second.
used it only once, but it seemed neat.