Self-Checkout Produce Scale with Image Recognition

I'm a big fan of self-checkout - or at least, the potential of self-checkout. It seems that in reality, the current systems are always just buggy enough to take more time than assisted checkout: the weight isn't what the scale expected ("unexpected item in bagging area"), the barcodes won't quite scan, or an associate has to be called over anyway to check ID for alcohol. But as the technological march continues onward, here's one barrier which is about to be busted - the scale in the photo is able to determine on its own, via image recognition, what kind of produce it's weighing. No more trying to identify it yourself ("what kind of tomato is that?"), or keying in a produce code number from a not-always-present sticker. Apparently, the image recognition even works through semi-transparent produce bags, is able to determine different types of the same fruit, and even at different stages of ripeness. All assuming, of course, that it actually works as intended - so if the current state of self-checkout machines is any indication, there's probably still a little way to go!
[via I4U, OhGizmo, and Gizmodo]

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