[adsense:]Intel Wants to Change Shopping Experience
Posted by Michael Vizard Jan 8, 2010 4:43:44 PM

Intel wants to take those boring directory signs in the store and turn them into interactive displays that make it easy for customers to find what they want.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Intel showed off display technology powered by Intel Core i7 processors that renders a three-dimensional holographic view of the store. When a customer approaches the display, it automatically determines the customer’s height and gender. A customer can then query the touch-enabled display to either browse the store or find specific items they are looking for.

While some folks may think this could take the fun out of shopping, it might also bring people into the store that want only to buy the specific thing they need. Without creating too much of a gender-bias argument, odds are good that more women fall in the former camp, while more guys are more likely to be hunting for one specific item.

The Intel display, shown during Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s keynote address, isn’t available yet. But retailers attending the National Retail Federation conference in New York are expected to be looking for new technologies that help not only drive down the cost of labor, but increase the likelihood that somebody will actually buy something once they are actually in the mall.

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