Estonia's CAV Solution Ltd., a high-tech startup, has introduced an age-verification module for vending machines. The system can also be used as an identity-verification device when "know your customer" (KYC) compliance is needed.
CAV, or Customer Automated Verification, said its technology is powered by computer vision and neural networks, which enable detection and recognition of faces, gender and age.
"The solution does not allow sales of age restricted products to minors," said CAV chief operating officer Juri Tarassenkov. "It is a huge problem worldwide that children have a chance to purchase health harming products."
In use, the vending module, which includes a camera and document tray, mounts to the side of a machine.
Verification is achieved in two steps. The customer first looks into the camera and places their document into the tray. The system then determines the customer's age; verification results are displayed on the module's screen.
Separately, CAV Solution Ltd and Curitas Ventures AB last month signed a contract note in which the object of transfer was "NFT Token No. 00001." The investment amount and shares of the company being sold are being kept confidential.
The NFT was auctioned on the OpenSea platform. The buyer was Curitas Ventures, a Swedish venture capital firm.
The deal is said to be the first NFT stock transaction, backed by a percentage of a business.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger. NFTs can be used to represent easily reproducible items – photos, videos and audio, among other types of digital files – as unique items. NFTs can also work on blockchain technology to establish a verified and public proof of ownership, as with the CAV and Curitas transaction.
