ShelfX’s Vending Fridge nixes the cashier, uses QR codes, RFID to ‘know what you took’
By Joe Pollicino
QR codes and RFID tags aren’t uncommon when it comes to automated payment applications, and now Colorado-based ShelfX has purposed them for its new wireless-equipped Vending Fridges.
Eliminating the need for a cashier — or cash, for that matter — each unit allows you to purchase any items packed inside by scanning a QR code with your phone (using the company’s app) or an RFID badge. Upon presenting either method to the machine, it’s able to tell who you are and unlocks its door. From there, you can grab whatever you’d like, while ShelfX automatically pulls funds your account for what’s been removed.
The system is also smart enough to know when goods are put back, so you won’t have to worry about being charged while making up your mind. All of the money goes through ShelfX, allowing it to take “a small percentage” for itself before sending a monthly payment to owners.
The Vending Fridge is currently on sale for $600, and a retrofitting kit for your own fridge is also available for half that amount — no word on whether it has kid-blocking or crab-proofing options, though.
See the press release here: ShelfX’s Vending Fridge nixes the cashier, uses QR codes, RFID to ‘know what you took’ — Engadget.
