'Smart Hangers' Help Sharp Dressed Men

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Let's report on another piece of technology now, our last word in business: smart hangers. A men's store in Tokyo is using radio-frequency identification, or RFID technology, inside its clothes hangers.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When a customer removes an item from the rack, that triggers a display on a nearby screen to show product information for that item, and even matching accessories.

MONTAGNE: Supposedly, you no longer have to ask the sales person: Does this pink shirt go with these pants? But the shopping technology doesn't stop there. According to a technology blog, the hangers can be programmed to trigger music and lighting that might make you more likely to buy.

INSKEEP: So, as you pick out a new blazer, you might hear...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHARP DRESSED MAN")

ZZ TOP: (Singing) Women go crazy about a sharp-dressed man.

INSKEEP: ...this very music, putting you in the mood to purchase. That's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

MONTAGNE: And I'm Renee Montagne.

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