SmartShopper - the voice-activated shopping list

June 22, 2006 This is a rendering of a concept device that may or may not be a killer app. SmartShopper is an automated grocery shopping list device that will use voice recognition technology to store, and intelligently aggregate lists for shopping and errands, then print the list. According to the company's co-founder Richard G. Brindisi, "the user simply presses a button on the unit and says the name of a grocery item they will need on their next visit to the store. The unit has an LCD and an embedded thermal printer that actually prints the list right out of the unit. The list will be printed according to the categories in the grocery store, i.e. all of the produce items will be listed together, frozen foods together, etc. The unit comes with nearly 2,000 grocery items already entered and the user can add their own favorite items or brands." Now on one hand, it’s easy to see this functionality being incorporated into a Palm pilot, Windows CE device or built into almost anything with a microprocessor, so it won’t exist without competition. But on the other hand, it is designed for people to keep track of things without having to use a computer, could be used by the technologically-dysfunctional, it’s small and handy, could be used driving a car … and there's a demo of the device here.

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