Exhibitions of the latest products such as carts that sell food while traveling unmanned are being held in order to solve the problems of the retail industry, which is suffering from labor shortages.

This exhibition starts from the 1st to the 4th at Tokyo Big Sight, and 190 companies from Japan and overseas are exhibiting.



Of these, Toshiba's subsidiary is exhibiting carts that sell drinks such as sweets, tea, and coffee while traveling unattended.



Users can make payments by face recognition on the screen attached to the cart, so there is no need to assign a clerk.



It is expected to be used in theme parks and offices.



Toshiyuki Sakaji, chief of the TOSHIBA TEC Product Planning and Development Division, said, "We are conscious of dealing with labor shortages and non-contact."



In addition, as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus, Sharp is exhibiting a technology that displays the congestion status in real time to prevent the store from becoming crowded.



The sensor can be used to grasp the entry / exit status of users, and when the number of people reaches a certain number, it can be automatically displayed as "Admission is restricted".



NEC exhibited a system in which product shelves were photographed with a camera and AI analyzed them to notify them of missing items.



Labor shortages are an issue in the retail industry, and manufacturers are accelerating technological development.