A Robot May Soon Be Cleaning Spills at Your Grocery Store

Grocery shopping is a fairly dull experience. Unless there are samples, there is nothing particularly exciting about squeezing avocados or feeling up fruits. But if you shop at Giant, things are about to get a whole lot better: The supermarket chain just unveiled spill-cleaning robots, and these bad boys have googly eyes!

The robot — named Marty — is brain the child of Badger Technologies and Dutch food retailer Ahold Delhaize, Giant’s parent company. According to a press release, the 6 foot 3 inch robot can “identify hazards, such as liquid, powder and bulk food-items spills and provide reporting that enables quick corrective action.” Nick Bertram, president of Giant, told Adweek that he’d eventually like to use Marty to address out of stock products as well. “Bringing robotics and A.I. from a research lab to the sales floor has been a very exciting journey, and we were thrilled by the customer response in our pilot stores,” Bertram said. “Our associates have worked hard to bring this innovation to life with amazing partners.”

Cool, right?

Of course, some may be wondering why Marty needs googly eyes — though this writer begs the question, why not? But it seems Giant has a good reason for including them. Bertram told Adweek Giant wanted to personify the bots to make the experience “a bit more fun.” And they have: Marty has become Giant’s unofficial mascot.

As for which stores are already using the robot, specifics are unclear; however, the bots are expected to roll out “in waves.” Giant stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia will receive Marty within in the next six months.

And while these robots won’t make your trip any easier (they won’t gather your groceries or babysit your kids) we still can’t wait to see them in action because, if nothing else, Marty is bound to make the most cynical shopper smile.

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