Well, our robotic shopping cart overlords aren't here just yet. But a partnership between Austin-based Whole Foods and a local tech firm may lead us a step closer.
Computing giant Microsoft recently wired to a computer tablet and a Microsoft Kinect motion sensor that can follow shoppers around the store, check items off a shopping list, and, as the video below shows, even make corrections if you select the wrong item.
Microsoft doesn鈥檛 mention who made the cart, but point to Austin-based . Chaotic Moon has previously tweaked Kinect technology; at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, it unveiled a Kinect-connected skateboard that can travel at up to 32 mph.
Wired says Whole Foods is currently testing the carts at stores in Austin, and will launch a broader trial run in April.
You can see the cart demonstration via a GeekWire video, and watch Chaotic Moon鈥檚 鈥淏oard of Awesomeness鈥� in action below in the second video.
