A Czech firm has developed a "smart" beer vending machines that can check the buyer's age from his or her identification card or passport, local media reported on Friday.

The Czech Future Art firm said the machines will be installed in places where it is forbidden to sell alcoholic beverages to people under 18-years-of-age,

The system is based on the technology that Czech police use to identify people. If the buyer is not of the age required by the machine, it does not dispense goods and returns the coins inserted.

The firm said that the system had been patented in the Czech Republic and that they had also applied for an international patent.

The Plzensky Prazdroj brewery will install 100 of the vending machines at universities, accommodation facilities and shopping arcades in Prague and central Bohemia.

David Polnar, from Future Art, said that the system can also be used in door systems, turnstiles, gaming machines and Internet terminals.

Source: Xinhua