Amazon's vision for the future of shopping involves stores without humans and an automated purchasing process. While it may sound ambitious, the online retailer is already in the process of creating the first versions.
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However, one Swedish startup and a Chinese university are taking the concept further: they've designed and autonomous shop that's designed to travel to customers. The Moby Mart, created by Wheelys, Hefei University of Technology and tech firm Himalafy, has been dubbed 'the supermarket that comes to you'.
"The Moby Mart offers products for immediate consumption, such as milk, lunch, or medicine over the counter, around the clock," its creators say. "Just enter the store, take what you need, and leave".
The prototype, which the organisations have beta testing on the streets of Shanghai, is currently moved around by humans but the creators say future versions will use computer vision to navigate the streets and come to customers.
Customers who intend to shop within the vehicle will pick items, scan them with a phone, and then put them in their basket. A bank account, connected to the phone, will automatically be charged for items taken. Wheelys says the idea of the stores is convince for consumers.
"Running on electricity and equipped with solar panels the Moby is also the most environmentally friendly store on the market," the firms say. "With an Integrated Air purifier, the W247 Mobile does not only not pollute; it cleans up".
Going forward, Wheelys says the stores will cost $100,000 (£780,000) to develop and that it has plans to make more in 2018.
However, a lot of this should be taken with a pinch of salt. There's still a long way for the Mart to go before it becomes a reality on our city streets.
At present, the vehicle appears to be quite bulky and slow, there's no AI for self-driving currently implemented, and although it says drones will be able to deliver ordered items, there's no details on how this will be achieved.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
