Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly hard at work to develop a technology similar to Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Go.
The idea would be to have retail stores that don’t require cashiers and are check-out free. The software company has been in talks with Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) to create a similar store that would rival the Amazon Go initiative. Amazon first rolled out the technology in its Seattle hometown last years, allowing shoppers to grab items and leave as the store is full of cameras and sensors with computer vision algorithms to detect what items you’re taking out of the store and charged to your account.
Microsoft has reportedly hired a computer vision specialist from the Amazon Go team and the company is experimenting with attaching cameras to shopping carts to track items. The company already has retail partners who are building automated checkouts on top of its cloud services.
It is unclear what technology Microsoft is using for its sensors, but it is likely linked to its Project Kinect for Azure. The company released its fourth-generation Kinect sensor at Build last month, which is designed for others to utilize the depth sensor and its AI services for spatial human object recognition.
MSFT stock gained 0.4% Thursday, while AMZN shares surged 0.9% and WMT stock fell 0.5%.
