A vending machine system for exchanging CO.sub.2 gas cylinders, the system including a controller in communication with a user interface, a payment system and an array of bin assemblies, wherein each one of the bin assemblies is shaped to at least partially receive an end of a CO.sub.2 gas cylinder and includes a locking system for releasably securing therein a CO.sub.2 gas cylinder, said system for performing the steps of: (a) receiving user input through the user interface; and (b) if the user input represents a desire to conduct maintenance, then the system performs the steps of: (i) confirming that the user is authorized to conduct maintenance; (ii) unlocking an empty CO.sub.2 gas cylinder from a respective bin assembly for removal by the user; (iii) receiving a full CO.sub.2 gas cylinder in an emptied bin assembly; and (iv) securing the full CO.sub.2 gas cylinder received in the emptied bin assembly.

A mobile device with a first transceiver, a second transceiver, one or more processors, and memory bridges communications between an offline retail machine with a short-range communication capability and a remote server by obtaining via the first transceiver a single-use request code from an information packet broadcast by the offline retail machine; transmitting via the second transceiver the single-use request code to a remote server; obtaining via the second transceiver from the remote server a grant token including the single-use request code; detecting a trigger condition for initiating provision of a product or service by the offline retail machine; and in response to detecting the trigger condition, initiating performance of the provision of the product or service by transmitting the grant token to the offline retail machine via the first transceiver.

A footwear apparatus, comprising receptacles, having a mechanism that automatically removes and replaces interchangeable sole footwear parts; an automatic complete new sole dispenser; an automatic new sole heel dispenser; a complete old sole recycling automatic ejection component; an old sole heel dispenser automatic ejection component; a computer-implemented method for serving footwear and footwear soles to consumers from a vending machine; a computer-implemented foot scanning device, wherein said apparatus is comprised of a configuration to automatically replace the sole or partial sole of a pair or pairs of footwear.

A multi-serving cartridge assembly is provided with a frame defining serving chambers to receive a supplement. A plurality of trap doors is connected to the frame with each trap door associated with a respective one of the plurality of serving chambers and moveable between a first closed position to enclose the associated serving chamber and a second open position to dispense the supplement therefrom. A dispensing system is provided with a housing including a cartridge bay shaped to receive a cartridge with a plurality of unique identifiers, and a computer control system to read the unique identifier, open the serving chamber, and send a signal to a remote system. A method of dispensing supplement from a cartridge is also provided.

In some implementations, a transaction device may include a display screen, at least one photosensitive sensor configured to detect a luminance of a viewing surface of the display screen, and one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to monitor an output of the at least one photosensitive sensor, determine that the output is indicative of an obstruction on the display screen based on the output indicating a change to the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen, and disable one or more operations of the transaction device based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

An individual-specific cosmetics manufacturing selling machine includes a housing, a raw material supply part provided inside the housing and configured to supply liquid cosmetic raw materials, a container supply part configured to supply a cosmetic container, a raw material injection part configured to inject the raw materials into the container, an articulated robot configured to pick up the container from the container supply part and place the container at a predetermined position, a stirrer configured to stir the raw materials injected into the container, and a cosmetics outlet configured to discharge a manufactured cosmetics to the outside of the housing. Also provided is a cosmetics manufacturing selling method using the individual-specific cosmetics manufacturing selling machine.

A fulfilment centre for fulfilling an order of one or more items, wherein the fulfilment centre includes: for storage of the storage; iii) a dispatch system having a plurality of lockers with an interior space for storing items, the interior space being accessible through a first opening exterior of the fulfilment centre and a second opening interior of the fulfilment centre; iv) a door mechanism operable to selectively close the first opening(s) of the lockers exterior of the fulfilment centre and the second opening(s) of the lockers interior of the fulfilment centre; and a locking mechanism configured to lock and unlock the door mechanism.

A system that includes a fuel dispenser terminal and a remote controller. The fuel dispenser terminal is configured to generate a service request for a fuel purchase that includes card information, encrypt the service request, and send the encrypted service request to the remote controller. The fuel dispenser terminal is further configured to receive a personalized offer in response to sending the encrypted service request and display the personalized offer. The remote controller is configured to decrypt the service request to identify the card information associated with a customer and determine an identity of the customer based on the card information. The remote controller is further configured to generate a personalized offer for the customer based on their identity and send the personalized offer to the fuel dispenser terminal. The remote controller is further configured to re-encrypt the service request and send the re-encrypted service request to a service processor.

A novel food station comprises first and second pluralities of cubbies, each sized to enclose a food portion container, and a food collection hatch that is selectively externally accessible. A heating system can controllably heat one or more of the first plurality of cubbies independently of the first plurality of cubbies, and a cooling system can cool one or more of the second plurality of cubbies independently of the first plurality of cubbies. An internal transport system including an end effector that temporarily couples to the portion container carrier of a selected cooled cubby of the second plurality of cubbies and can controllably move the food portion container carrier to a selected heated cubby or to the food collection hatch.

First data characterizing an attribute of a fuel dispenser user interacting with a fuel dispenser having an interactive display can be received. Second data characterizing a gaming application for presentation on the interactive display of the fuel dispenser can be determined based on the received first data and using a first predictive model that predicts an association of the gaming application with the fuel dispenser user characterized by the first data. The second data can be provided such that an instance of the gaming application is presented on the interactive display of the fuel dispenser. Related apparatus, systems, methods, techniques, and articles are also described.