When you need something in the middle of the night, where do you go? Surely round-the-clock convenience stores like 7-11 will pop into mind, but working the graveyard shift eventually takes its toll on the human body. How about getting robots to do the job? The Ladera Palms Apartment Homes in Fort Worth will soon house Shop24, a self-contained, totally automated, robotic convenience store. This will be the first apartment property in the US that will feature such a unique device, where the machine (standing tall at over 9 feet) will offer up to 200 traditional items at all times, where the items range in weight from less than one ounce to eight pounds. It will accept credit cards, debit cards, cash and supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) cards as the mode of payment. No idea on whether items which are restricted to those 18 and above will be sold by Shop24, as it leads to the question of minors getting hold of an adult’s identification and credit card to make such purchases. A vending machine on steroids, that is what we would think the Shop24 is. I would not be surprised if one day, it transforms into an Autobot. [Press Release]
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