Some Los Angeles grocery stores are using a six-foot robot with blinking eyes and purple-and-green lights to patrol aisles and flag missing, misplaced, and other inventory problems.
While the technology is intended to help stores better track products, some shoppers and workers say it feels more like a glimpse of a more automated — and less human — future.
Here’s what to know
The robot is called Tally, and Kroger-owned Ralphs has introduced it in some Los Angeles stores, joining other retailers, including Bristol Farms in Santa Monica, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Burlingame-based company Simbe Robotics makes Tally, which scans shelves as it travels the store for items that are low, unavailable, or shelved in the wrong spot…