Cooler Screens is the future that is happening in the frozen foods aisle

By Sofia Gallarate

Updated May 17, 2020 at 08:53 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

Out of all the high-tech software and products one would expect facial recognition technology to be used in, who would have imagined that it would make it into the sliding doors of supermarket freezers? Yet, the pharmacy store chain Walgreen’s (the equivalent of the U.K.’s Boots) is experimenting precisely with that. The doors of its freezers in over 15 shops in both New York and Chicago are now official ‘smart doors’, meaning that they display personalised ads based on the person’s features and behaviour as measured by cameras and Artificial Intelligence systems featured into the doors of coolers.

cooler-screen-3-700x467-c
cooler-screen-0-700x467-c

This comes after last November Walgreens partnered with Cooler Screens, a Chicago-based startup that makes “retail cooler surfaces into IoT enabled screens”, as described on the company’s website, by featuring facial-recognition technology and eye-tracking screens to store frozen food displays. And with that, Cooler Screens aims to pave the way for the next generation of in-store shopping.

Cooler Screens’ doors contain minuscule cameras, motion sensors, and eye tracking technology that enable them to display personalised advertisements to Walgreens’ customers in order to guarantee the right product is marketed at the right time to the right person. Based on your gender, your age range, but also on other facts such as the temperature outside, how long you stand in front of a section, and on your emotional response to a particular product, the AI targets you with what it believes to be what you really want, need; desire.  

Many agree that it was about time in-store marketing filled the gap between brands and customers by developing an internet-style advertising strategy that is able to offer customers the ad-hoc experience typical of online advertising. With such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, and MillerCoors already contracted with Cooler Screens, it seems as though we will encounter an increasing number of digital doors in the near future.

Of course this AI-powered marketing strategy raises the usual privacy concerns, such as, is this a privacy breach? Are these devices biased? And what about our autonomy when it comes to decision making? Responding to such criticism, Cooler Screens is set on keeping users feeling calm and secure, claiming that despite the use of facial recognition technology, the company only collects anonymous data and does not identify customers. “The business model is not built on selling customers’ data… The business model is built on providing intelligence to brands and to retailers to craft a much better shopping experience.” Said Arsen Avakian, co-founder of Cooler Screens.

No more wasting time comparing products. No more walking up and down the aisle looking for what you think you are looking for. No more buying unwanted goods. This is what Cooler Screens’ premise in embedded in. As this AI shopping software ensures a facilitated customer experience, I can’t help but wonder how this high-tech twist on real-life shopping could influence people’s taste to new and unpredictable extents.

Will this technology survive against the free will of buyers who attempt to remain immune the tide of Artificial Intelligence and its data-based predictions? Smart Cooler’s mission is only at its infancy, and it’s hard to predict its success in the long run. Yet the premise of its offering is undoubtedly attractive to both brands and retailers. Now, it’s only a matter of testing the digital doors’ performance and discovering whether you’ve been buying the wrong flavour ice cream for a decade.

Keep On Reading

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

What is Rumble, the YouTube copycat home to problematic men like Russell Brand and Andrew Tate?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Alabama woman supposedly kidnapped exposed as a liar by hilarious Google search

By Charlie Sawyer

The death of independent media. VICE may have been the first victim, but it won’t be the last

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

6 things you need to know about the Maui wildfires and how to help

By Alma Fabiani

Real Madrid players arrested for sharing explicit video involving a minor

By Charlie Sawyer

How to date in 2024: Ditch other people’s romantic timelines and focus on you and only you

By Charlie Sawyer

Is John Pork calling or is he dead? Chatting with the creator of the viral meme that had us all hooked

By Alma Fabiani

Euphoria actor Angus Cloud dead aged 25. Here’s everything you need to know

By Charlie Sawyer

Find out the spooky way Taylor Swift may have manifested Travis Kelce into her life

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Styles rivals Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow with new line of sex-themed perfumes

By Abby Amoakuh

The most controversial Supreme Court cases that lie ahead and what they mean for the US

By Alma Fabiani

No bonus episode for The Summer I Turned Pretty. Watch cast react to season 2’s top scenes

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Watch this chilling encounter of divers stumbling upon a terrifying doomsday creature

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Watch this video of Taylor Swift having a wholesome moment with Kobe Bryant’s daughter

By Lois Freeman

From war zones to fashion runways: Model agencies exposed for recruiting women in refugee camps

By Alma Fabiani

Israeli doctors reattach Palestinian boy’s decapitated head after cycling crash

By Mason Berlinka

Watch viral video of a woman having a meltdown on a flight over a passenger not being real

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast accused of bullying after he sues his own fast food chain MrBeast Burger

By Mason Berlinka

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is proof that multiverse madness needs to end

By Alex Harris

11 of the most shocking school punishments ever given