Shopping cart goes high-tech
LONDON (Reuters) - Supermarket shoppers may soon be cruising the aisles with "intelligent" shopping carts that warn them if they're buying too much junk food, technology experts say. While many would be happy enough if they could simply get their trolley to go in a straight line, the high-tech model will be fitted with a computer screen and barcode scanner. It will read each product's individual code to give customers information about calories, nutrition, ethical sourcing and the environment. U.S. technology services company EDS outlined the concept in a study paper published this week. It said the screens would reduce the need for lots of packaging for food, helping stores to tackle environmental concerns. "Shoppers want barcode readers on their trolleys ( shopping carts ) to calculate the nutritional content and tell them when they have blown their calorific budget," said EDS's Sion Roberts, director of consumer industries and retail. "It...