I don’t see, even in theory, what kind of help that thing is supposed to offer. Or what its design is meant to do.
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I haven’t seen in in the wild, but I’ve seen videos where some supermarkets use these robots to take inventory and perhaps perform other small tasks so humans can take on more important talks. The Lockhorns have discovered that this now includes fixing mistakes at the self-check out kiosks.
The placement of the eyes makes the tall opening below them look like a huge gaping mouth. But if so, is it meant to suggest talking or eating?
But no, to address the question, I don’t see how it could be of any help, in scanning, in bagging, or in getting the bags out to the car.
I wwas going to say the checkstand doesn’t even have a platform to hold a bag while packing it, but on closer look there is one – it’s just too small and in a useless position.
Tally has a distinctive whistle that bores itself into your brain while shopping.
isn’t that the point? That the so-called help won’t be of any help at all? Not a thigh slapper, but about average for that strip I think.
This one in the strip is very much like the one at Stop and Shop, with its cartoon eyes. At Stop and Shop, it goes down all the aisles, checking for spills and whatever customers might be doing.
As long as we’re doing The Lockhorns, here’s today’s panel, with a choice of a couple Geezer Alerts. Are people more likely to have trouble with “taking a mulligan” or “Mulligan Stew”?
There’s a restaurant in town that we hadn’t been to since before the covid lockdown. Some time in the past 4 years they have adopted the use of a robot server that brings out your dinner to the table. It makes little beefy noises as it cruises around, I guess to warn people it’s coming. When it gets to your table it says, “Please take your food.” My wife has mobility issues with her arms. I had to get up and remove her meal from the holding bay and put it on the table. We won’t go back.
I love the idea of the robot making “little beefy noises” — even if that might have been a typo!
And then, it could adapt it to what it is serving, and make “little chicky noises” or “little porkie noises” or even “little veggie noises”!
yeah, sorry, it was an auto “correction”. If the p and the f keys were closer together I might accept responsibility for it as a typo, but not this time. Our computer overlords are just messing with us now.
Perhaps the improbability of the robot being of help is the joke.
I assume the joke is supposed to be the they are having difficulty with the automatic checkout and another automaton is coming to “help” them.
Looks like a robot Yip Yip from Sesame Street
The Stop n Shop robot is called Marty. I have -so far- managed not to attack it, but the annoyingness factor is off the charts. OTOH, their actual human help around the self checkouts is pretty good. Unlike their stockers, out here in the boonies, who camp out working slowly, blocking aisles.
One grocery store I shop at has robots like this to check stock. When I first saw it I thought it was cleaning the floors or something, but there was a sign on it saying it was checking the stock. I also don’t see how it will be helpful, but like others said maybe that is the point.
They have “Tally” bots at one of the supermarket chains here. It’s supposed to be scanning shelves to detect out-of-stock and mis-shelved items. I’d be happy if the latter worked, as that’s been a problem at the one I go to. Some stockers seem to think that if an item is out, then fill up the space with whatever you do have.
Nothing about spills that I’ve ever heard. That would be a higher level of sophistication.
I use self-checkout frequently, and in the large majority of cases at self-checkout, all that is needed is for the store employee to confirm that the customer is not trying to rip the store off in some manner. The employee then swipes a card and directs the machine to continue scanning. In concept, this role might be filled by a robot with good AI; presumably some electronic communication would substitute for the card swipe.
Of course, we know immediately that the robot is not going to have good AI. Whatever issue froze the checkout machine will freeze the robot too, and nothing accomplished except for more time wasted.
Re: Stop & Shop robots, and what they do (or not).
“…says Marty doesn’t have anything to do with shoplifting, and reiterated that its only job is to scan the floors for hazards. However, the robot is decorated with two cartoonish plastic googly eyes, so customers might be forgiven for assuming they are being watched. And indeed, that might be an intentional choice.”
Those “eyes” work at a subconcious level, and are probably fairly effective. There is gas station on the Berlin Beltway that placed a mannequin in the corner of their mini-market. Even though I know it’s not a real person, it still gives the impression that “someone is watching”.
Shoplifting is a major problem. Many regular stores have camera devices in the ceilings (sometimes fake, but often real). One of the local hardware stores used to have a small sign at the door, showing the number of shoplifters that they had reported to the police in the current year. If it was accurate, it averaged to more than one per day (and that was only the people they caught).
Marty at our local Stop and Shop has had it in for me since he appeared. He heads right for me every time we are in the store. Husband told me that it was my head. A few times we walked in two different directions – Marty followed me every time. He will be at the end of an aisle several aisles away and will skip the aisles between and head for me when I am in his “vision” range. There are times when I have to jump out of his way – and I am 70 and “chunky” so not able to jump well.
Just told husband about the strip – he says they have in BJs also and that one claims it is taking inventory.
He adds – “If it gets in your way, just kick it and it will go away.”
Comics I Don't Understand 
I haven’t seen in in the wild, but I’ve seen videos where some supermarkets use these robots to take inventory and perhaps perform other small tasks so humans can take on more important talks. The Lockhorns have discovered that this now includes fixing mistakes at the self-check out kiosks.
The placement of the eyes makes the tall opening below them look like a huge gaping mouth. But if so, is it meant to suggest talking or eating?
But no, to address the question, I don’t see how it could be of any help, in scanning, in bagging, or in getting the bags out to the car.
I wwas going to say the checkstand doesn’t even have a platform to hold a bag while packing it, but on closer look there is one – it’s just too small and in a useless position.
Looks like Tally from BJs.
https://www.boston.com/food/food-news/2023/03/14/tally-robot-bjs-wholesale-club-grocery-stores/
It reminded me of Tally, the robot at BJ’s Wholesale Club: https://youtu.be/_tFD81mnwss
Tally has a distinctive whistle that bores itself into your brain while shopping.
isn’t that the point? That the so-called help won’t be of any help at all? Not a thigh slapper, but about average for that strip I think.
This one in the strip is very much like the one at Stop and Shop, with its cartoon eyes. At Stop and Shop, it goes down all the aisles, checking for spills and whatever customers might be doing.
As long as we’re doing The Lockhorns, here’s today’s panel, with a choice of a couple Geezer Alerts. Are people more likely to have trouble with “taking a mulligan” or “Mulligan Stew”?
There’s a restaurant in town that we hadn’t been to since before the covid lockdown. Some time in the past 4 years they have adopted the use of a robot server that brings out your dinner to the table. It makes little beefy noises as it cruises around, I guess to warn people it’s coming. When it gets to your table it says, “Please take your food.” My wife has mobility issues with her arms. I had to get up and remove her meal from the holding bay and put it on the table. We won’t go back.
I love the idea of the robot making “little beefy noises” — even if that might have been a typo!
And then, it could adapt it to what it is serving, and make “little chicky noises” or “little porkie noises” or even “little veggie noises”!
yeah, sorry, it was an auto “correction”. If the p and the f keys were closer together I might accept responsibility for it as a typo, but not this time. Our computer overlords are just messing with us now.
Perhaps the improbability of the robot being of help is the joke.
I assume the joke is supposed to be the they are having difficulty with the automatic checkout and another automaton is coming to “help” them.
Looks like a robot Yip Yip from Sesame Street
The Stop n Shop robot is called Marty. I have -so far- managed not to attack it, but the annoyingness factor is off the charts.
OTOH, their actual human help around the self checkouts is pretty good. Unlike their stockers, out here in the boonies, who camp out working slowly, blocking aisles.
One grocery store I shop at has robots like this to check stock. When I first saw it I thought it was cleaning the floors or something, but there was a sign on it saying it was checking the stock. I also don’t see how it will be helpful, but like others said maybe that is the point.
They have “Tally” bots at one of the supermarket chains here. It’s supposed to be scanning shelves to detect out-of-stock and mis-shelved items. I’d be happy if the latter worked, as that’s been a problem at the one I go to. Some stockers seem to think that if an item is out, then fill up the space with whatever you do have.
Nothing about spills that I’ve ever heard. That would be a higher level of sophistication.
I use self-checkout frequently, and in the large majority of cases at self-checkout, all that is needed is for the store employee to confirm that the customer is not trying to rip the store off in some manner. The employee then swipes a card and directs the machine to continue scanning. In concept, this role might be filled by a robot with good AI; presumably some electronic communication would substitute for the card swipe.
Of course, we know immediately that the robot is not going to have good AI. Whatever issue froze the checkout machine will freeze the robot too, and nothing accomplished except for more time wasted.
Re: Stop & Shop robots, and what they do (or not).
“…says Marty doesn’t have anything to do with shoplifting, and reiterated that its only job is to scan the floors for hazards. However, the robot is decorated with two cartoonish plastic googly eyes, so customers might be forgiven for assuming they are being watched. And indeed, that might be an intentional choice.”
https://thecounter.org/supermarket-robot-automation-ai-organized-labor-stop-and-shop/
It’s just a funny image.
Those “eyes” work at a subconcious level, and are probably fairly effective. There is gas station on the Berlin Beltway that placed a mannequin in the corner of their mini-market. Even though I know it’s not a real person, it still gives the impression that “someone is watching”.
Shoplifting is a major problem. Many regular stores have camera devices in the ceilings (sometimes fake, but often real). One of the local hardware stores used to have a small sign at the door, showing the number of shoplifters that they had reported to the police in the current year. If it was accurate, it averaged to more than one per day (and that was only the people they caught).
Marty at our local Stop and Shop has had it in for me since he appeared. He heads right for me every time we are in the store. Husband told me that it was my head. A few times we walked in two different directions – Marty followed me every time. He will be at the end of an aisle several aisles away and will skip the aisles between and head for me when I am in his “vision” range. There are times when I have to jump out of his way – and I am 70 and “chunky” so not able to jump well.
Just told husband about the strip – he says they have in BJs also and that one claims it is taking inventory.
He adds – “If it gets in your way, just kick it and it will go away.”