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New good things in and old good things out, undoubtedly we’re now living in a throw-away culture nowadays. But instead of throwing those unneeded items away, there’s actually a better way for us to deal with them: to recycle them via the Swap-O-Matic Vending Machine. The machine comes with thirteen compartments where the items to be traded can be placed in and one touchscreen interface on which users can keep track of their account. When using the vending machine, you can either directly exchange your unused item for one placed in the compartment or place it in one compartment for sale. Quite interestingly, when you buy or sell one thing, you won’t need to pay or get paid with real money but virtual credits instead. As a result, as long as you have something in hand, you can exchange it for a needed item conveniently.

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The beverage or snacks in vending machines seldom attracted your attention? Never mind, as they have now managed to draw the crowds to move closer and closer, by offering WiFi without any charge. Unveiled by Japanese company Asahi, the machine sends out internet waves that cover about 164 feet around it, allowing people to use it continuously even though there’s a 30-minute limit on each session. Asahi is planning on rolling out 1,000 of these in 2012.

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Usually kids enjoy more things than adults, but sometimes that may become totally different: the vending machine merely offers free pudding samples to adults. Developed by Intel, the dispenser is built with face recognition to check the age of anyone who approaches, by analyzing facial data such as the size of eyes and their distance apart, so as to determine whether or not to give you a sample. Of course the machines may make mistakes as they cannot read your ID, but in quite most cases the kids would receive nothing from them.

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No more a long waiting time in cafes, as a vending machine can actually offer us a cup of coffee with a patterned foamy top too while costing less time and less money. This special vending machine appeared at the Yojiya Cafe in Haneda Airport, Japan, which uses drips of coffee poured carefully through milk to form a face on the top of your hot beverage. Currently the machine only offers coffee with the face of a woman floating on the top, and possibly in future the machine would come with other options like a hello kitty.

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I love vending machines, because I could always easily find my favorite cola there. But things are different now, as the Transparent Touchscreen Vending Machine developed by Sanden, in cooperation with Okaya Electronics and Intel offers me another reason to appreciate the machines: you love it simply because the vending machine is fabulous! It comes with a 65-inch full HD vertical screen on front, displaying animated graphics, clock time and other information from time to time. As people walk by, it would display customized menus based on facial recognition technology.

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Everybody knows what common vending machines can offer, but they seldom recognize that these machines can also provide some surprising things except for drinks and snacks. Actually, with weird vending machines collected from the world, people would easily get Marijuana, panty, gold, or even alive lobsters too. [Read the rest of this entry...]

With countries all over the world promoting environmental protection and energy conservation, some supermarkets in France have also followed the trend and built some Wine Filling Stations for the customers to fill their own containers with wine. As a result, not only the consumption of bottles and packaging boxes will be reduced, the consumers can also save their money.

Unilever is known as the world’s biggest ice cream manufacturer but recently it is known for unveiling the world’s first smile-activated vending machine. The machine “offers a revolutionary new way for consumers to buy ice cream and, simultaneously, a revolutionary brand experience,” because it offers anyone smiling before the machine a free ice cream and its 3G technology enables people to upload and share their happiness with others. The innovative ice cream vending machine has made its first appearance in May 2010 at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, and it will soon be built all over the world during the next 18 months. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Yea I could drink pure water without such a water dispensing system, but I really admire the thrift concept it shows to us. Compared to traditional beverage vending machine, the new product can save more resources by dispensing water to the owners’ bottles rather than supplying bottled beverage. Whenever a bottle is connected to the base, the fountain system will then fill it up automatically. Oh, another highlight is the electric payment via RFID technology.

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It couldn’t be better to buy anything we need simply through a vending machine, not merely snacks and beverages. In American, most hotels have cooperated with brand swimsuit manufacturers to supply an exclusive line of swimsuit all available in vending machines.

The freestyle fountain machine from Coca-Cola can mix up to 100 different drinks simply with a touch screen that is able to guide you to select and mix a great array of flavors. Isn’t it also a wise idea for Coca-Cola to develop another popular flavor? Perhaps we Chinese beverage manufacturers can also follow this way. At present, freestyle fountain machines are popping up in California, Georgia, and Utah.

Panic Button is very common in public area, but what if a Panic Button-shaped thing comes with the words ”Don’t Panic” printed on it?

Actually, it’s a condom dispenser. Sure, you should not panic to while asking for a condom. [Read the rest of this entry...]

As a part of the promotion campaign, Japanese branded Onitsuka Tiger offered a unique vending machine Carnaby street in London.

Each vending machine provides 24 pairs shoes of 6 different sizes. [Read the rest of this entry...]

If you wanna take bike to riding on country road, but do not have any bike with you, you might need this system. It allows you to take bike and drop it off at another vending machine with the help of built-in RFID chips. [Read the rest of this entry...]