Hitachi Intros Biometric Vending Machine Finger Vein Patterns Allow for Cashless Transactions

The Japanese love their vending machines. Their country has taken the
automatic dispensing of everything from electronics to underwear to a
level not seen in most other countries and when you couple this with
their almost unnatural love for electronics, you get Hitachi's latest
invention, the Biometric Vending Machine.

Hitachi seems to have made a giant (and creepy) leap forward in the
realm of vending machine technology. It has combined its proprietary
biometric authentication system, which is based on the recognition of
finger vein patterns in your hand, with a pretty normal-looking vending
machine, to come up with a device that makes it possible for registered
users to buy beverages without swiping a card or inserting a single Yen.

Basically, users sign up with the program and it captures an image of
the unique vein patterns in their hand so that next time they insert
their digits into the machine it automatically charges the credit card
they have stored on file with the company. The company also incorporated
a digital signage system so that buyers will get to see personalized ads
or other information on an LCD screen.
Hitachi has not released information about whether or not the biometrics
vending machine will actually see mass production, but they have decided
to install several of the machines throughout their office buildings in
Japan. I don't know about you, but having my veins scanned every time I
want a can of Coke is just a tad bit on the violating side.