newVideoPlayer("/uniqlorobot_giz.flv", 476, 286,""); If you couldn’t make it to Times Square this morning, the clip above shows what happens when humans become vending machines. Yes, it was a stunt put on by Uniqlo, and no, it didn’t ruin shopping forever. It’s actually pretty great; first you get your body scanned to reveal your hottest and coldest parts, then no matter the result, a human trapped inside a box delivers you a warm HeatTech shirt. Uniqlo has other demos planned in Paris, Shanghai and Seoul, but if you won’t be in any of those places, at least you can rest easy knowing that you’ll still have a job when the robots take over. [Uniqlo]
Are you looking to buy clothes in the most awkward way possible? Well, Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo is bringing that opportunity to holiday shoppers in New York’s Times Square by setting up human vending machines. Yes, they’re vending machines with mimes inside, with human assistants in metallic bodysuits there to help you. Yikes.
newVideoPlayer("/uniqlo_robot.flv", 475, 340,""); We took a trip down to Uniqlo to see how the American invasion of their Wakamaru shopping robot was faring. Not so well. Bewildered by the bustling crowd scurrying around against booming techno music, it had to be led around by hand and had trouble understanding our bizarre alien language. When our intern asked, “Where are the shirts?” it chastely told him not to use naughty language. Hell, it even looks confused. Breathe easy, retail employees, your job is safe. For now. Video by Nick McGlynn.
