Ever stuck in a supermarket checkout line and eagerly watched the person/people ahead of you unload their carts, wondering how much faster you could be if you were in their place? Waiting in a queue is my nemesis. It can be downright boring and utterly frustrating at times – especially when there is some minor bottleneck at the checkout counter. Without a doubt, there is much scope for improvement at the shopping marts to speed up the process and make it an enjoyable experience for the users. The technology in the current era at our disposal is a testament to that fact.
Three budding designers Park Chan Woo, Choi Chan Young, and Lee Eun Ji, all from Seoul, Korea have created the idea of a smart mart that could redefine shopping in big marts and malls around the globe. They call it the Mobi smart shopping cart designed keeping in mind all the predicaments that one encounters when they’ve added things to the cart and just want to leave the shopping mart, in as little time as possible. The automated Mobi cart follows you around once you scan it with a dedicated app on your phone – ready to give your recommendations via the navigation system having a map, as to which way to go if you want to buy a particular item. There’s also the option to upload your shopping list beforehand and Mobi will navigate you around optimally to get things done in the least possible time.
You just have to pick up all the needed stuff and put it inside the cart – the items will be automatically added to the interface and the payment can be done in the cart interface itself. No need to stand in the queues, everything is automated for the user’s convenience. Once your shopping spree is over Mobi automatically returns to its recharging dock where 16 Mobi’s can be juiced up simultaneously. The concept is somewhat similar to the Amazon Dash Cart that is going to be tested at Amazon’s Woodland Hills, California, grocery store. What sets Mobi apart from Dash Cart is its self-actuated function with an eye-catchy design and the more future-forward approach with all the modern sensors (for detecting the items put in the cart) embedded in the cart itself.
Designer: Park Chan Woo, Choi Chan Young and Lee Eun Ji
