Last year, we’ve shown you Yahoo Japan’s digital signage system that scans passersbys to put up personalized content (ads, news, and other information). And today, railway operator JR EAST showed a very similar device that’s actually a mix between digital signage system and vending machine.

The new system is larger than the Yahoo Japan model and can detect one’s sex and age, too. All that customers need to do is to stand in front of the system, wait for it to work its magic through a camera, and then choose the drink that the system recommends by pushing the drink’s icon on a 47-inch touch panel.

The recommended drinks are highlighted with a red star (see above). Customers can pay in cash, with their cell phones, or with one of three common IC cards.

If there’s no one around, the machine displays information like the current time or temperature, but it also can show ads or videos it downloads via Wimax. The first machine was put up at Shinagawa station in central Tokyo today, with 500 more systems to follow in the next two years.

Via Keitai Watch [JP] / hat tip to Akky