Supermarket Scanner that Identifies Products by Look Instead of Barcodes

The days of barcodes attached to different products could be over in the near future. This is because Toshiba Tec has recently presented its latest invention called Object Recognition Scanner.

The device is able to instantly identify any type of grocery just by their appearance. The apparatus does not make use of a scanner. Instead the company has equipped it with a camera that sees only objects that are brought close to its lens, filtering out the unwanted background in its picture.

With the help of pattern recognition software, the device is able to identify different fruits and vegetables, as well as packaged products and coupons. Everything is performed rather quickly. The products are scanned even if they're held in front of the camera for a very short period of time. Besides, it is unnecessary to hold the product still so it could be properly scanned.

However, probably the only thing that supermarket staff will have to work on is pre-installing a huge database of produce and some other products. Due to the fact that the look of fresh produce changes according to the season, the staff will be able to spend a full year creating the database. Currently Toshiba is improving its technology so it could read the products quicker and at various distances.