Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Unilever Smile-Based Ice Cream Vending Machine
Unilever has created a new vending machine for ice cream that will provide its tasty product for free if the customer smiles. And if the customer agrees to have his happy mug displayed on Facebook, twitter and youtube. Via 3G, you can also share it yourself to various social networking sites.
Unilever gathered a team of experts to put together the hardware and software for 21st century vending; face recognition, proximity sensors and smile detectors are all at work. Smile happily at this smile-based ice cream vending video.
(Unilever smile-based ice cream vending machine)
"We can actually force the person to smile," said Michael Leonard, director of digital merchandising for SapientNitro, the vendor that created the machines for Unilever. Force? "Sure. They don't get the ice cream if they don't smile."When fully deployed, the machines will be vending for cash and "randomly selected people" will be offered the opportunity to smile broadly for their free treat, Leonard said. "We haven't actually decided that number. It might be one of out of 10, one out of 20. We'll be doing further market tests to figure out what the optimal number will be."
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams tells us about the Nutri-Matic, which also makes an assessment of its user prior to dispensing foodstuffs:
He had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. The way it functioned was very interesting. When the Drink button was pressed it made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic examination of the subject's metabolism and then sent tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centers of the subject's brain to see what was likely to go down well.
(Read more about Douglas Adam's Nutri-Matic)
As it turns out, it doesn't take a corporate team of people to create something like this; just one determined artist. And this machine gives you ice cream when you feel bad - not when you manufacture a smile. Read about Dr. Whippy, created by Demitrios Kargotis in 2007 (see also this Dr. Whippy video).
From CBS news.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/27/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures
Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products
'I grabbed two Syntho-Steaks out of the freezer...' - Robert Heinlein, 1950.
Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops
'It's the food situation I'm worried about...' - James Blish, 1950.
NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge!
What's your favorite science fictional space food? How about your favorite REAL space food?
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
