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: 2) by captain_nifty on Monday March 20 2017, @02:19PM
The stores want you to travel to all the different sections of the store, that way you are more likely to find something that you will buy that you had not intended to get.
To get around this the store just needs to periodically restock/rearrange the store layout, how often can Google economically scan the whole store?, or more likely start putting common items on moving end row displays.