Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"In WWII, they had a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I think the modern equivalent of that is that there are no jaded, bored people in the high-tech industry, in the land of really good hardcore geeks."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Automated Restaurant | ||
| Food is prepared and served entirely automatically. |
In this classic, one of the most basic human needs is attended to by machinery.
| Kantos Kan led me to one of these gorgeous eating places where we were served entirely by mechanical apparatus. No hand touched the food from the time it entered the building in its raw state until it emerged hot and delicious upon the tables before the guests, in response to the touching of tiny buttons to indicate their desires. |
| Technovelgy from A Princess of Mars,
by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Published by All-Story in 1912 Additional resources -
|
It's likely that this idea was inspired by the first automats, which were 'restaurants' that featured food sold from what we now call vending machines. The first automat in the U.S. was opened in 1902 in Philadelphia, inspired by the world's first, which opened in Berlin, Germany.
These original automats did have a human employee, whose function was to provide nickels to customers to feed the machines. When the appropriate number of nickels was fed into the slot, and the meal chosen, the customer could slide the door open to receive his food.
Compare to the home food preparation machine from Unto Us A Child Is Born, by David H. Keller (1933).
Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting this item.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Princess of Mars
More Ideas
and Technology by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Tech news articles related to A Princess of Mars
Tech news articles related to works by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Automated Restaurant-related
news articles:
- Bytes Restaurant With Touchscreen Ordering
- Automated Restaurant Uses Gravity Feed Rail System
- e-Menu Interactive Restaurant Menu
- Let's Pizza Robotic Pizzeria
- Robotic FuA-Men Fully Automated Ramen Restaurant
- Mometum Machines Burgerbot
- Chowbotics Salad Robot, Sally
- Beijing HaiDiLao Robotic Hotpot Restaurant Now Flavored By Artificial Intelligence
- Stellar Pizza Is A Pizza Robot That Comes To You
- Fully Automated Olympic Food Service
| SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives? |
| 3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality |
| Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products |
| Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
