I'm not sure that today's tech is up to the task,
unless you fancy adding bar codes to everything you own. Maybe in a few years, but your wife should have buried your corpse under the patio, before then.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 5 Jul 2012, 20:31, 2 replies)

Barcodes? Are you from the 80's?
I'd go with an RFID system. The problem I can see is that you'd have to get up to get things out the cupboard, then go to the cupboard again to put things away. I tend to throw stuff on the floor next to the sofa.

The answer is of course a touchscreen by the sofa, and a monkey butler.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Fri 6 Jul 2012, 1:29, closed)

Yes, I'd assumed RFID
Which would also allow you to ask where in the house an object was (if not in the Cupboard).

A later version would have a roombot collecting items and putting them back in the cupboard at night. You'd have to have some way of nominating items to not be collected, or that could get annoying.

I like the monkey butler refinement, though... [strokes chin thoughtfully]
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 6 Jul 2012, 9:53, closed)

Strokes own chin....
Well, I'd get smacked if I stroked anyone else's.
Add in 'Banjo playing' just before and 'equipped with a hover pack' after monkey butler and you've sold me on the idea.
( moonbadger Doesn't judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, Sun 8 Jul 2012, 10:15, closed)

...or rfid tags
you can buy hundreds of them for a few quid on ebay, and the readers are around 4 quid each.
(dchurch bah, Fri 6 Jul 2012, 12:44, closed)