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The folks at Uniqlo love robots. The Japanese clothing chain "employs" a little yellow robot salesperson, Wakamaru, at its Soho store; today, they set up a human vending machine in Times Square to give away samples of their special Heat Tech innerwear. Though the real thing wasn't as cool as the rendering, we were nonetheless impressed by the effort.
At 1pm on the dot, customers standing in four lines on Military Island in Times Square were ushered in small groups towards the machine by pink-fleece-wearing staffers. Inside, you could see "robots" dancing—the robot, of course—with Heat Tech boxes in their hands. Then, a dude wearing a tinfoil-like unitard pushed a button, and out popped free boxes full of gender-specific Heat Tech innerwear. Just another day in Times Square.
· RackedWire: Uniqlo's Paradigm-Shifting Human Vending Machine; A New Flea Market in Bed-Stuy [Racked]