Biometric Beer Vending Machine Comes to Columbus

Columbus, Ohio, just got its first beer vending machine, which uses face biometrics to ensure that users are of age.

The system has been deployed by Land-Grant Brewing Co. at its Franklinton taproom, thanks to a partnership with VendGuard, a local startup. Customers are instructed to insert their physical ID into a reader, and to then submit to a face scan. Facial recognition matches the two, and then the customer can feel free to order from a selection of craft beers with names like “Oh, Sure” and “Lemon Glow”.

The vending machine’s ID security goes a step further by also checking customers against a database of fake IDs compiled with help from other bars in the area.

In a statement, Land-Grant Brewing co-founder Adam Benner framed the automated vending machines as a means of improving the customer experience. “Partnering with VendGuard allows us to serve our customers faster without compromising on safety,” he said.

There appears to be a growing trend of using biometrics to automate the sale of restricted goods, and particularly leveraging the kind of ID-to-face matching that is increasingly common in mobile-based identity verification systems.

Land-Grant Brewing’s system is probably among the less controversial of recent examples. An ammunition-dispensing vending machine in Alabama recently attracted a number of headlines – not because of any particular catastrophes, but simply for its existence – while in Canada, a snack vending machine on a university campus recently went viral when students discovered that it may have been secretly scanning their face biometrics.

Sources: [614], Columbus Business First

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July 19, 2024 – by Alex Perala