Retail giant Walmart recently filed a patent application mundanely titled “System And Method For A Biometric Feedback Cart Handle.” The technology is essentially a shopping cart handle that can track the heart rate, temperature, stress level and other biological characteristics of shoppers as they grip the handle of their cart when moving around a store. It represents one of the most direct forms of occupant tracking in the retail sector, causing intrigue in the sector and a outrage amongst privacy defense groups. It is not Walmart’s first patent in the high-tech shopping cart realm. Earlier this year, their “shopping facility assistance systems, devices and methods to drive movable item containers” patent was approved, which is essentially a robotic shopping cart that leads shoppers around a store. Both patents could be seen as logical steps in the development of smart buildings, which at their core revolve around occupant tracking and human-machine interactions. However, with the vast […]