A mobile device can establish a communication with a separate device via a single function action such as bringing the devices near to each other. A method can include establishing a communication between a mobile device and a separate device a via a wireless link, presenting an instruction associated with the potential purchase and receiving, after the instruction is displayed and interpreted by the mobile device, a combination of a first type of input and a second type of input with the mobile device, at least one of which can be a security measure to prevent unauthorized purchase. The method includes retrieving the payment data from a memory of the mobile device and transmitting the payment data via the wireless link to the separate device to make a purchase.

A vending machine recognition apparatus includes: a receiving unit configured to receive a captured image obtained by capturing an image of a vending machine; and a recognition unit configured to recognize merchandise from the captured image and recognize a price of the merchandise from a peripheral image region of an image region of the recognized merchandise.

A distributed smart locker system includes a plurality of locker units in a locker cluster. Each locker unit includes: a front panel with a set of inputs for an end user to retrieve an at least one item stored in the locker unit; a back panel with a set of outputs for an operator to place the at least one item in the locker unit; and a computing device with a processor, memory, storage, and wireless networking capability.

A beverage dispenser according to the present disclosure includes a display unit that displays a menu of beverages to be sold, a person detector that detects a person who selects at least one of the beverages, a person attribute determiner that determines attribute information on the person, recommended product determiner that determines a recommended product based on the attribute information, a display method determiner that determines, based on the attribute information, a display method of the recommended product to be displayed on the display unit, and a recommended product display controller that displays the recommended product on the display unit through the display method. Thus, a specific product can be displayed efficiently in a beverage dispenser to be used by an unspecified number of people.

A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically receiving user status information regarding a particular individual living being including living being identification associated with the particular individual living being to at least in part electronically generate, based at least in part upon the user status information, one or more selection menus electronically identifying at least in part one or more candidate ingestible products, the electronically generated one or more selection menus to be electronically outputted to provide, via electronically enabled input in response thereto, selection opportunity of the one or more candidate ingestible products subject to ingestion by the particular individual living being prior to selection of at least one candidate ingestible product as at least one selected ingestible products via the electronically enabled input in response to the electronically outputted one or more selection menus.

A device to produce personalized mixtures of substances intended to obtain and optimize beverages for a specific individual or user, includes a plurality of containers of basic substances, at least a measuring device and management and control means. The device is associated to the management and control means configured to carry out instructions regarding personalized formulas that express univocal sensory profiles or profiles functional to the specific needs of a specific individual or user.

A fuel dispenser comprises fuel flow piping defining a flow path from a source of fuel toward a fueling nozzle. A plurality of fuel handling components are disposed along the fuel flow piping. Control electronics, in operative communication with the fluid handling components, include a multi-core processor having at least two processor cores located on a common integrated circuit chip, the at least two processor cores utilizing different operating systems in an asynchronous manner.

A system and method for dispensing an article from an article dispensing machine by reducing the amount of time for completing a transaction involving the article is provided. A request related to a selected article and payment information for a balance related to the selected article may be received at the article dispensing machine through a user interface. The payment information may be validated, and simultaneously and in parallel, the selected article may be retrieved from a storage unit in the article dispensing machine. The selected article may be dispensed from the article dispensing machine if the payment information is valid. If the payment information is not valid, the selected article may be returned to the storage unit. Quicker dispensing of articles during consumer transactions with the article dispensing machine may result. The articles may include media articles, such as DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and video game discs.

Disclosed is an updated browser having an API for communicating payment data between the browser and a site or an application and a software module for processing payments of purchases and to reduce the number of user interactions needed for a purchasing process. The method includes receiving, via the user interface, an interaction by a user with an object associated with a site, the interaction indicating a user intent to make a purchase, receiving, based on the interaction and via an application programming interface, a request from the site or application for payment data in connection with the purchase and transmitting, to the site or the application and via the application programming interface, the payment data, wherein the payment data confirms the purchase or can be used to process or deliver a product associated with the purchase.

The vending machine control system S performs authentication processing for authenticating a user on the basis of information on the user who is about to open a door 13 of a vending machine 1, and when the user is authenticated, performs control to unlock the door 13 of the vending machine 1. Then, the vending machine control system S identifies a product picked up from a storing chamber 12 after the door 13 is unlocked, and when a reserved product is included in the identified product, outputs different information depending on whether or not the authenticated user is a reservation person of the reserved product.