A chain of shops staffed entirely by robots is being set up in Japan. Shelves
around the walls of the Robo Shop Super 24 stores display the goods that
shoppers can purchase by using keyboards dotted around the shop. Once a customer
has ordered and paid, stockroom robots retrieve the goods and deliver them down
a slide to the cash desk. The shops sell more than 2000 products—from
bubble gum to underpants.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
3
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
4
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
5
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
6
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
7
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
8
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
9
The most detailed survey of the universe ever conducted starts now
10
I have a 100 per cent chance of getting cancer due to a rare gene
