The future of shopping technologies and vending machines are going to further blend the digital world with the real world, and the cellphone will often be the tool to make that happen. YNN's Adam Balkin filed the following report.

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The shopping experience of the future is much deeper than the days of simply walking into a store, browsing the racks, then picking up a favorite product.

At the National Retail Federation's annual Big Show convention at the Javits Center on Manhattan's West Side, there is a big push towards blending the online shopping experience with the real-world, in-store shopping experience.

More often than not, the tool that will make that happen is one's cellphone. For example, a new kiosk by IBM knows who the user is and what he or she might want, based on information from a cellphone.

Utilizing location-based services, we recognize that you're standing next to the device. So the kiosk knows my size, it knows the types of products I like," says Errol Denger of IBM. "It also has an interactive dressing room, so we know everything you've looked at as well and what you've purchased. So now you can really pull together the perfect outfit."

Developers say that kiosk is about a year or two away.

Later this year though, parents who have caved and bought their children an Xbox 360 and the motion-sensing Kinect add-on can be able to use the system for themselves through a service called "Swivel," which allows users to virtually grab stuff off store shelves and even try it all on right there in one's living room.

"Just step up in front of the camera and you use the same gestural interface you'd use with Xbox, and before you know if you're trying on a great ski look or beach look or formal gown, it's such a benefit also to be able to try like a jacket and a tie or a dress and a necklace and a purse all at one time," says Linda Smith of FaceCake.

When it comes to vending machines, they are getting more and more digital, and one particular model from Intel and Kraft Foods allows users to taste a sample before buying anything.

Also, the machine can be changed remotely so that it can convert from purely for taste tests to a fully-functioning vending machine.

"As a meal sampling, it's just a free thing. And then you would take it and say 'Wow, I love this Jell-O Temptations, I'm going go to the store and buy it.' When it's a vending machine, you can just buy it right there," says Chris O'Malley of Intel.

The machine is right now being tested at the South Street Seaport in the Big Apple and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.