Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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OLED Placemats

Thin screen to put your plate on
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Surprsing what uses can you think of for something that will be covered with a plate.

On the menu -

The menu.
Order placing (table no. is a given).
Button in one corner [same drink again].
Neural analysis of food appreciation based on timings of knife/fork pressure.
Newspaper for those dining alone.
Childrens games.
Table2Table flirting/business.

Alternatively just make the whole table a touchscreen, placemats could then be windows and dynamically arranged for different eating party configurations (blue tablecloth of death willing).

bigsleep, Jul 02 2009

MIcrosoft Surface http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
[Dub, Jul 02 2009]

Drinks http://itvoir.com/p...ail.asp?BlogID=4556
OK, not quite the same... but not much of a leap of the imagination [Dub, Jul 02 2009]

doesn't say if it is Microsoft technology http://www.psfk.com...able-top-menus.html
as good as there, this one is in London [dentworth, Jul 03 2009]

Video clip about imamo. http://news.cnet.co...105-10193120-1.html
[jutta, Jul 03 2009]

uWink http://www.uwink.com/restaurants
Touchscreens, but not as tables. But still a reference point. Their silicon valley branch recently shut down. [jutta, Jul 03 2009]

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       [marked-for-deletion] baked <link> and I vaguely recall SF'ish movies that do that.
FlyingToaster, Jul 02 2009
  

       This sort of "hidden-till-lit" tabletop display using a planar glass surface was envisaged in the movie "Tron", many Earth years ago. And the LCARS terminals on the Enterprise-D are pretty similar.
8th of 7, Jul 02 2009
  

       [FT] Link is for the microsoft table not a touch screen display(s) and restaurant software. I particulularly like the "food appreciation" detector.
bigsleep, Jul 02 2009
  

       Yeah, I'm calling boojum on that "baked".
phoenix, Jul 02 2009
  

       I must say, it sounds somewhat familiar (there are certainly videos of "Surface"-like technology detecting drinks and how full the glasses are)
Dub, Jul 02 2009
  

       My phone won't load the first link because I don't have macromedia player 8, but the third one down definitely bakes this.
21 Quest, Jul 03 2009
  

       Nice 3rd link. Baked to a crisp then. I like the meal preview feature they have. I wonder whether operating with one screen they have touchscreen conflicts ?
bigsleep, Jul 03 2009
  

       Somehow, this feels too good to actually work. My bullshit detector's all a-tingle.   

       At imamo, the displays are actually projected from above, and the input happens via a trackpad, not via a touch screen. The video clip I link to is the usual fluff reporting, but you can quite clearly see how cumbersome the menu interaction actually is.
jutta, Jul 03 2009
  

       I think my idea started with the same concept of a "next drink button". Not sure if OLED touchscreens will eventually win, but the cheap combo of projector and touch pad is quite elegant. I agree with you about their interface, they made it cute but fiddly.
bigsleep, Jul 03 2009
  

       Thinking smaller, maybe this could be a beverage container with built-in refill call button (& wireless communication to the bar), not a whole redesigned restaurant.
Could have a drink level sensor.
Although the Microsoft trick of using prisms in the glass is slick.
jutta, Jul 03 2009
  

       Ultrasonics work better - highly tolerant of opaque liquids.
8th of 7, Jul 03 2009
  


 

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