Shopping apps have made buying food easier than ever by putting grocery lists on your smartphone. But they still require a fair amount of manual input, and thinking about what you need to buy can be time-consuming and stressful—to say nothing of the hassle of actually driving to the grocery store and sifting through its aisles.
Why not leave the entire process up to your trash can?
GeniCan is launching a new smart garbage can at CES 2017 that will create a grocery list based on the individual items you’ve thrown away. It can even automatically order them for you.
The device, which attaches to the inside of your garbage can, scans the barcode of any item you want to replace, and it uses Amazon Dash buttons to automatically order them. You can even use voice commands to tell it what to add to your shopping list. If what you need to replace is not available through Amazon, the scanner will load the details of the item onto its app using your home’s Wi-Fi. The created grocery list can then be shared with others, so your spouse doesn’t have to worry about buying the wrong brand of soy milk.
There are still a few things you’ll want to think about before getting the GeniCan. The device will only work if you either scan your item’s barcode or place it in front of GeniCan’s cameras and tell it what item you want to log. This requires you to spend some extra time at your trash can, and things could get tricky if your garbage has a lid (or if you prefer to compost as much as possible). Also, Amazon Dash functionality is currently limited to popular everyday items like diapers, paper towels, and snacks.
GeniCan says its IoT-inspired device gets a year of battery life from four AA batteries. It’s compatible with both iOS and Android, and it’s available now for preorder at $125.00.
H/T VentureBeat