RE: UKNM: Iceland turns up the heat

[Phil Gyford]

At 3:45 pm +0100 1999-09-08, Sean Phelan wrote:

>    The Product: Two Door Fridges are internet appliances with built in

>                 refridgeration.  They are built into your kitchen wall;

>                 one door faces into the kitchen; the other, with an

>                 digital lock, faces the outside world.  When you remove

>                 something from the fridge, pull up an online recipe or

>                 whatever, the fridge re-orders over the net.


An old thread, but I just saw something relevant today. In the August 

1999 issue of 'Research & Development':


[start]

The Midwest Research Institute (MRI), Kansas City, Mo, has taken an 

entrepreneur's new product delivery system and developed it into a 

working prototype called the Smart Box.

	The device, invented by Kansas City entrepreneur Dave Porter, 

is an outside storage container that enables consumers to receive 

delivery of temperature-sensitive goods when they're not home.

	Porter turned to MRI for its expertise in thermo-electric 

refrigeration. Although the first prototype didn't end up using the 

technology, Porter says the next version will in order to create a 

unit with a smaller footprint. MRI also did the original marketing 

survey for the product.

	Porter's next objective is to create a secure access system 

to track deliveries. The consumer will supply vendors with individual 

access codes to input when they drop off goods. Access is via a 

keypad, and the code can be changed remotely.

	One version of the climate-controlled and electronically 

networked container has freezer, refrigerated, and dry storage 

compartments. The unit will be mounted through a wall so the consumer 

can then open the unit from inside the house.

	Porter acknowledges that the container, which protects 

merchandise from thievery as well as the elements, must be functional 

and aesthetically pleasing. The goal is to create a device that will 

increase consumer-direct sales by making it more convenient than ever 

for people to receive groceries, laundry, dry-cleaning, prepared 

meals, and other goods while they're away.

[end]


They've got the two-door idea, but so far they're missing Sean's 

crucial net access...


_

philgyford [dot] com

 / tel:281-990-9319 / icq:3794783

  http://www.gyford.com / http://www.haddock.org

_ 

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