February 29, 2012 08:39 am EDT

Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video)

Here's a little secret Whole Foods doesn't like to advertise: they want, nay, demand, that a rather large percentage of residents near its highfalutin grocery stores have a college degree. Apparently you've gotta be smart to navigate its aisles crowded with over-priced organic wares and exotic condiments. Perhaps, though, the company has realized the error of its ways and wants to move in to new markets. That doesn't mean it trusts you and your high school diploma to decipher all those labels with difficult to pronounce words on them. A new experimental shopping cart is being tested by the market that puts a tablet and a Kinect in the driver's seat -- literally. Because you can't be expected to multi-task, the cart drives itself, monitors your shopping list and can even warn you if you grab the wrong item, thus protecting you from your own inability to avoid aggravating your peanut allergy. Check it out in action after the break.

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Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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