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As a kid, I always wanted to be on the TV show "Supermarket Sweep."
In the middle of a Lowe's store in 2017, my dream almost came true. The home improvement retailer is rolling out an augmented-reality app that tells you the fastest way to find items on your list.
It's powered by Google's Tango, an indoor-mapping technology using special cameras to sense depth in 3D space. Measure objects, map a room and see virtual objects in the real world with augmented reality.
With a phone in one hand and a shopping cart in the other, I'm rushing around the aisles pulling items off the shelf. On screen I see a yellow line overlaid on the camera image, navigating me to the next item on my list. There's an aisle and shelf number in case I get really confused, as well as an estimate step counter that tells me how far I have to go.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by black6host on Sunday March 19 2017, @05:36PM (5 children)
It's bad enough that we have people that walk with their heads down, eyes glued to their phone. Now we have to arm them with shopping carts in crowded store aisles?
The few times I shop in Home Depot I'm glad there are people there to answer my questions and guide me to my destination. This is just one step closer to fewer employees. I kind of like the social interaction....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 19 2017, @07:59PM (2 children)
The few times I shop in Home Depot I'm glad there are people there to answer my questions and guide me to my destination. This is just one step closer to fewer employees. I kind of like the social interaction....
That's what Uber and Ashley Madison are for, silly! (Oh, and dude, don't shop at Home Despot, it is owned and run by crazy Republican types!)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday March 19 2017, @08:59PM (1 child)
That's what Uber and Ashley Madison are for
I think you're missing the meta problem of its OK when you're looking at your phone while shopping for that kind of service, but when some woman at either employer needs a phone app with augmented reality camera to, you know, properly serve you, that's when the real problem starts. "Hold on sir I need the bigger screen on my ipad to properly enjoy serving you" and all that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @02:53AM
Yucks... I'd still prefer sex over a big screen iPad as social interaction.
(but that's me, kinky; others may prefer sex in bed).
(Score: 2) by ledow on Monday March 20 2017, @08:45AM (1 child)
I can't name a single time that a shop assistant ever assisted.
At best, they walk to the same shelves as I did, look at the same products as I did, then determine that they "don't have any", as I already did.
I honestly just wave them away when they start on their "Can I help you, sir?" bit. Because experience has shown that, no, they can't.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Monday March 20 2017, @05:12PM
Having worked as one of those people, I can tell you lots of people needed help. Sometimes it was only in finding products, but other times it was more, "how do I use this" and so forth. When it was more advanced than that, I was just step 1, and directed people where to get good information (because the first pages of Google in that industry were all sponsored junk, more about directing traffic than actually informing you).
Also, this was only part of the job. It was also directing foot traffic, stocking shelves, cleaning messes, finding lost children, protecting people from themselves (or in one case from their parents), mitigating "shrink", and so forth...
It was fun but it doesn't pay well and the non-sales promotions available are filled by people that often work those jobs for decades...