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
