SNAKE: Harnessing Human Touch for Produce Quality Estimation to Foster Sustainable Retail Practices

We present SNAKE, an innovative method that harnesses heat transferred from human touch interactions to estimate product quality. SNAKE offers an accessible and cost-effective solution that seamlessly integrates with existing retail practices; for example, it can be integrated with scales and cashiers already present in shops. Rigorous and systematic experiments demonstrate that SNAKE achieves a high level of accuracy (83%) and outperforms optical sensing and WiFi sensing baselines. We also provide evidence that SNAKE can capture touch interactions of different durations and maintain consistency across diverse user profiles and operating environments. To assess the potential for practical impact, we also carry out an additional user study (N = 100) which suggests that SNAKE has potential to improve consumer purchasing decisions by at least 25% and reduce food waste (or increase promotional opportunities) by 10%–15%. In summary, our contribution offers a novel solution for leveraging smart IoT solutions to support retailing and foster sustainable retail practices.