[vendtalk] Students Design Beverage Vending Machine That Accepts Universal

[Vandervoort's]

Note:  I wonder if the same student inventors could also design and make a
fully accessible vending machine for the blind?

From: Vending Times
Issue Date: Vol. 53, No. 3, March 2013, Posted On: 2/8/2013 

Students Design Beverage Vending Machine That Accepts Universal Currency 

By Henry Schlesinger- swag at earthlink.net  
 
MADRID, SPAIN -- Students at the Miami Ad School Madrid, which bills itself
as "The School of Pop Culture Engineering," have created The Worldwide
Machine, capable of accepting virtually any currency or combination of coins
and bills from across the globe for a transaction.

The three students working on the project -- Erika Reyes, Gabriel Morais and
Sandra Silva -- have described it as a way to promote a globalized brand.
Currently prototyped as a Coca-Cola vender, the machine has garnered
worldwide attention.

The core concept is not altogether new, as similar technology exists in the
ATM field. Unique to The Worldwide Machine, however, is that foreign
currency ATMs only allow users to withdraw multiple currencies, while the
prototype Coke vender can also accept them. 

Like the foreign currency cash machines on the market, the student-designed
beverage machine is equipped with an exchange calculator (it can work
offline and online to access data). It also boasts sensors that will allow
patrons to deposit coins or bills in multiple currencies.

"We had to develop new hardware and software," said Reyes. "We believe that
the technology used in the cash machines is quite different, since those
machines withdraw different currencies, but our Worldwide Machine is the
only machine capable of accepting different currencies."

The machine, which is in the final stages of construction, should be
completed soon, according to the trio of inventors. When completed, it is
expected to make its way to such locations as airports and hotels, as well
as to international events like the World Cup and Olympic Games.