A new kiosk by Toppan Printing Co Ltd, being tested in three of Japan's supermarkets now, allows shoppers to look up a QR code (then print it, or have it on their phone's screen), hold it up to the machine and receive a free product sample.

The bigger gimmick, however, is that you can then hold the actual product up to the vending machine and get a bunch of floaty infographics (we know, it's a little late once you've already purchased a product). But if the software was tweaked a bit, something like a can of Coke could become a bubbling mana potion in your hand. And as long as you consumed said drink while looking at yourself on the augmented LCD screen, well, nothing special would happen.

Or would it? [Tech On via UberGizmo]

Drop 100 Yen and you'll get a Tateishi Hamburger in no time, but if you want another, you'll have to walk into the restaurant and wait. It all seems a little gimmicky, but apparently the machine serves up 20-30 burgers a day. Weird. [Japan Probe via CrunchGear]

The machine is more technologically complex than you'd imagine. The "PurePour" technology was originally developed to measure extremely precise amounts of dialysis and cancer drugs. Beyond that, RFID scanners are used to match cartridges to dispensers, and the onboard computer confirms everything is in place. Existing soda fountains use five-gallon concentrate bags and lots of backroom labor. Now all that is required is a highly concentrated 46-ounce cartridge inside a self-contained machine.

Using a touchscreen UI, customers can navigate through the dizzying array of sodas, flavored waters, energy drinks and other beverages in what appears to be a fairly straightforward way. The machines are currently being tested in Georgia, California, and Utah, but Coca-Cola plans to roll out 60 additional dispensers across the country by the end of the summer. [Fast Company]

A prototype "Gold-to-Go" machine in the Frankfurt Airport initially charged customers around $42 for a 1g wafer of gold and $341 for a 10g bar. The prices update every two minutes and average about 30% higher than market value for the cheapest product. So, given the premium price and extremely small quantity sizes, this really isn't much of an investment at all—more like a novelty or a unique gift idea. On the other hand, it does seem like a great target for thieves, although the company does monitor the devices with cameras and claims that the casing can withstand a dynamite blast. Still, a poor economy also means that thieves will go to greater lengths to pull off a job. [TG-Gold via Telegraph and Fox News]

The pitch: these boxes, fashioned like regular ol' vending machines, will eat, clean and smush your recyclable empties, rewarding you for your good deed with coupons, cash credit or vouchers for nearby stores. Your good deed, of course, was that you a) recycled a plastic bottle and b) watched a targeted advertisement on the machine's LCD screen. As of last week, they've been deployed in a few locations in Envirobank's native Australia, but only on a trial basis.

Evirobank claims the machines not only encourage recycling, but reduce carbon emissions by preparing the empties for direct shipment to a recycling depot, bypassing waste processing facilities altogether. I'm not sure that building a massive machine, replete with screens, processors, motors and pumps, results in a net decrease in emissions compared to driving some bottles around, but their hearts are in the right place, and 'details' like that tend to be ignored anyway. [RedFerret]

The machine hack is actually an art project designed and created by Ellie Harrison as part of her residency at the Plymouth College of Art. The little monitor you see at the right is actually tracking the BBC's RSS feed, and whenever the aforementioned doom and gloom comes over the wire, someone's getting something sugary.

The innards were programmed by Ben Dembroski using PureData and Python, while project2891 was implemented alongside i-DAT to activate messaging on the GreenScreen. In other words, free candy! And, this thing must get refilled, a lot. [Ellie Harrison via Make via noquedanblogs- Thanks, Sabino]

In the earthquake-prone country, specially marked vending machines currently being distributed to subway stations can be set to "emergency mode," in which they hand out free drinks to everyone.

It's a pretty great idea, as water is something that people need during a disaster and is just sitting in those vending machines. They've just got to make sure pranksters aren't able to turn free mode on when there isn't a disaster afoot. [Inventorspot via The Daily What]

Hardly automated, the machine dispenses one of four stored Cup Noodles upon insertion of money. The user then peels back the lid and places it under a hot water dispenser. Should they be unsure as to how long their noodles need to soak (or require a beep to activate their Pavlovian salivary glands), the machine also features a three-minute timer.

The Cup Noodle vending machine is more than a little absurd, but only if you're changeless or not hungover. [Cup Noodle via Tokyo Mango]

Revealed at CES, this Coke vending machine from Sapient has a completely interactive touchscreen front panel that lets you view the product before you purchase it—just like how you would in the grocery store. Simply select which bottle of pop you want, give it a spin to peruse its ingredients, marvel the barcode, and check out whatever else you need to know about it before purchasing it (with either cash or a credit card).

Sapient's Coke machines are set to be available sometime soon in the 190+ malls owned by the Simon Property Group. However, the rest of the world may have to wait until 2010 until they could touch one of these babies. View the very first hands-on first impressions below. [Engadget Thanks Peter!]

The whole thing is to promote their new Heat Tech innerwear line.

Basically we’re going to have two mimes. A male and a female mime inside the machine. And the public can see them through glass. When you get there, we’re going to have Uniqlo reps dressed in the silver bodysuits. And they’re going to hold a thermograph scanner — think of an airport security machine. The thermographer identifies cold spots in your body. After you go through that, you go to the vending machine and push a button and the mimes are going to do a synchronized choreographed routine and then your outfit comes out.

No thank you. Just look at the picture! It'll be like shopping on the set of a crappy, low-budget sci-fi movie. [PSFK]

As anyone who's been to Japan knows, there are vending machines all over the place there, especially in the cities. They're on every block and ever corner, offering up hot coffee in a can and cigarettes whenever you need them. The next generation of vending machines, as first released on Friday, will also include a security camera, an emergency phone and an alarm.

The camera will be a CCTV camera accessed by the police department. When the door to the emergency phone is opened, an alarm on the top of the machine starts going off, alerting those around you that you're in trouble.

With only the first machine being installed a few days ago, there's already been a backlash against it, with someone tearing off the camera and spraypainting "Surveillance Society" on the machine.

Will these machines catch on, slowly replacing the thousands of vending machine already spread across Japan, or will the people there stand up against becoming another country where privacy takes a backseat to security? Time will tell. [JapanProbe]

[PlaySmart.jp via Trends in Japan]

As you can see from the top images, August is a quiet month in the world of vending interiors. July, however, on the left, was mad crazy, with all the products moving one place to the right. In case you don't know what his arrows mean, Mr Terada also writes down the changes, rather like a chess game &mdash C3 to C4, C4 to C5, etc etc.

When he goes away on business trips or is too busy to document the life of his favorite machine, it is up to Mrs Terada to keep the vending machine vigilance. And fellow OCD sufferers vending-machine enthusiasts will be pleased to know that next month will be All Change, as October is when cold drinks are swapped for hot ones. Mr Terada's red Photoshop pencil will be busy. [Jihan via Kilian Nakamura]

I'd say more, but I don't claim to be a crow expert. (They aren't covered much on Discovery as of late but I'll be happy to expound upon sharks and/or army ants.) – Mark Wilson with video by Richard Blakeley

Healthy Vending Tries to Stop Kids From Getting Fat While in School [CG]

World's Biggest Vending Machine: An Entire Store [Gadget Lab]

Kingston vending machines now available [ubergizmo]