The Accumulibrary (2014)

The Accumulibrary is both dumb and smart: “Dumb” because it’s based on the willy-nilly heaping together of resources—so-called “chaotic storage”; “smart” because it’s built around the capabilities of an omniscient database that monitors locations and items within its otherwise mobile confines and renders them at once intelligible and accessible. The law of number because every item and every location within the Accumulibrary’s matrix of shelving lanes is tagged with barcodes devised not for human browsers but for the sensory organs and memories of machines. Handheld scanners relay the barcoded data to a central database that monitors inventories, maintains a real-time map of the warehouse floor, and generates efficient picking lists for the purpose of fulfilling orders.

Source: www.slate.com