A new 'intelligent' supermarket scanner can recognise fruit and veg, obviating the need for barcodes, its maker has claimed.
Toshiba Tec is working on developing a scanner that uses pattern recognition technology to instantly recognise the product, even differentiating between different varieties, according to a report on Japanese news website DigInfo.tv.
"Fruit and vegetables in supermarkets don't usually have barcodes, because they're put out while they're fresh,” Toshiba Tec's Keiichi Hasegawa told the website. “So these items can't be read at the register using barcodes, which means staff need to input data to record them. If staff are part-time employees, they may not recognise some items, which can cause delays. We're developing this new scanner to solve that problem."
The scanner uses a camera to recognise the difference between products and other objects, discarding the latter as noise and allowing it to operate at high speeds.
Toshiba demonstrated the system using three similar-looking apple varieties - Fuji, Jonagold and Mutsu. “ Fuji and Jonagold originally come from the same stock, so if you're not really familiar with apples, they might look the same. But this scanner can distinguish them, by recognising subtle differences in pattern and coloration," said Hasegawa.
The scanner will be shipped with a database of agricultural and other products, he explained. “It takes a year for all vegetables to appear in their seasons, so for a machine to read them, we have to create a database. So that anyone can use the scanner without needing to practice, it has to be able to read items consistently, whether they're touching it, far away from it, or moving. Our main task in development from now on is tuning the scanner so it can do that."
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