Touch Screen Vending Machines!

We all know how vending machines are popular in Japan as seen from different anime genres. Slice of Life anime series, Detective thrillers and different type of genres feature characters taking their favorite drink from vending machines. It's amazing how the Japanese included it as one of the iconic stuff on different anime series. I'm quite envious because here in the Philippines you'll rarely see vending Machines! You have to get a drink by buying one at a convenience store (Ministop or 7 Eleven). This time, Vending Machines in Japan are being steadily replaced by touch screen enabled counterparts. If most of the phones right now are touch based then I think there's no reason for Vending Machines to follow the trend.


As seen from a post of Dany, Vending Machines in Japan are being replaced by these touch based versions where you can interactively pick a drink and give you suggestions based on your gender and build and other factors. There's a camera in front of the machine which is used to give out input which will then be interpreted by the machine for a drink recommendation. The video below shows how folks gather around when the machine were introduced first.



I'm not sure why vending machines are not that popular in the Philippines. One reason that I can think of is that People in the Philippines are not trust worthy and they are not careful in handling these kind of stuffs. I'm sure there are other notable explanations out there but if I'll put myself in the shoes of vending machine owners (if this is the right term) I won't entrust putting up one in Manila since It will definitely get broken in short period of time.