I haven't seen cigarette vending machines in a while, but in Japan, there are over 570,000 of them all over the country and according to Reuters, the unsupervised machines are about to get a minor makeover this summer. To ensure underage smokers aren't buying cigarettes through vending machines, the country will be issuing its smoking citizens age-identifying smart cards and equipping vending machines with a system that scans a person's driver's license, specifically focusing on age requirements.
Japan's finance ministry is also looking at an age identifying system developed by Fujitaka Co that can compare facial characteristics such as wrinkles around the eyes, bone structure, and skin sags to facial data of over 100,000 people. If the system is implemented, smokers will have to look into a digital camera mounted on the machines and wait for the system to determine if they are of age.
Unfortunately, Japan is concerned about the system's accuracy since Fujitaka's device can only identify 90 percent of the users, meaning there's a chance older looking minors could potentially fool the system.
I'm not sure why Japan is going through all the trouble retrofitting cigarette vending machines, when getting rid of them completely would be a better idea. Besides, teens will be teens and they'll find other ways to buy cigarettes illegally.
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