The crowded, enclosed environments of a shopping experience have always been unpleasant; today, even more so because of the pandemic. If you didn’t want to get in and get out before, you probably do now. Regardless of the current situation, there has always been and still is, little efficiency in the shopping experience.
You’d think with all the high-tech gadgets there are nowadays that things would be smoother, but many points along the shopping experience remain a frustrating waste of time for everyone involved. For example, searching for staff to help you find things on your shopping list and waiting in line to pay.
That’s why designers Park Chan Woo, Choi Chan Young, and Lee Eun Ji, from Seoul, Korea came up with the concept of a smart shopping cart that eliminates unnecessary processes and makes shopping efficient, fast, and fun. They call it Mobi.
Mobi is perfect for when you want to get your grocery shopping done in as little time as possible, with as little human contact or interaction as possible.
How It Work:
- When you arrive at the supermarket, you deploy a Mobi from its docking station by pairing it with your smartphone via a mobile app.
- From there, you can push Mobi or have it follow you on its own using AI, cameras, and sensors. You can also ask Mobi for “directions” if you don’t know where something is, and it will lead the way.
- If you have a shopping list, you can upload it, and Mobi will lead you to each item in the most efficient manner. Your list and a map of the shop will appear on the cart’s integrated screen, keeping track of the stuff you need.
- There are sensors at the mouth of the basket that record what you put in, automatically crossing things off your list once you’ve got them.
- The display also shows everything in your basket, how much it costs, and the total bill. You can pay using the cart interface itself, meaning you’ll never have to wait in a line again.
- Once you’re done shopping, Mobi will automatically return to its docking station that’s also a charging point.
- The basket that holds the shopping folds out when Mobi’s in use, then folds back up for docking to save space.
- The docking station includes a self-packaging area for you to organize your groceries.
This smart shopping cart is great for anyone but especially for customers that have locomotion deficiencies. If it’s challenging to push a cart, an invention such as Mobi would be a dream come true! Unfortunately, the device is still just a concept.
