 |
RFID-Maki: Easy Payment Sushi
In Japan, eating and automation go together like, well, like raw fish and rice. At kaiten-sushi restaurants, the food is prepared expertly by chefs, then placed on a conveyor belt.
(From Kaiten-zushi Restaurant)
Customers pick what they want as it goes by. In the dim, pre-industrial past, restaurants used color-coded plates to determine the bill. A waitress would just count up the plates of each color, multiply, and present the bill.
There's a better way.
In the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo, the waitress merely waves an RFID reader over your pile of plates to prepare your bill. Each plate has an RFID tag implanted in the bottom of the plate; when scanned by the reader, the tag provides a unique number that corresponds to the price of that item.
Science fiction fans have long enjoyed automated food delivery; see the robot bar from 1965.
Read the first-person account at RFID in Japanese restaurants; thanks to Smartmobs for pointing this one out.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/12/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
Electronic Tongues Will Rule The Kitchen
'Install taste buds in the end of one tentacle...' - Anthony Boucher, 1943
Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample
They're Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing
Mealworms Food Of The Future
Get your grubs on.
Self-Driving Domino's Pizza Car
Yes, but can it negotiate entry at your Burbclave?
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Las Vegas Humans Ready To Strike Over Robots
'A worker replaced by a nubot... had to be compensated.'
You'll Regrow That Limb, One Day
'... forcing the energy transfer which allowed him to regrow his lost fingers.'
Elon Musk Seeks To Create 1941 Heinlein Speedster
'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Somnox Sleep Robot - Your Sleepytime Cuddlebot
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
Real-Life Macau or Ghost In The Shell
Art imitates life imitates art.
Has Climate Change Already Been Solved By Aliens?
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
First 3D Printed Human Corneas From Stem Cells
Just what we need! Lots of spare parts.
VirtualHome: Teaching Robots To Do Chores Around The House
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) Workshop
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
Nanorobots Roam Your Bloodstream, Cleaning It
Too bad they won't have lasers, though...
Galini 3D Printed Sleeping Pod Tiny Houses
'The houses are prefabricated units...'
MIT Boffins Create Psychopath AI On Purpose
There's a lesson in this for neural net AI engineers everywhere.
Skin Electronics 3D Printed
'June's body is a tracery of lambent lines, like some arcane capillary circuitry...'
Artificial Sensory Neurons For Prosthetics, Robots
Great for humans and robots!
China Uses Artificial Intelligence To Grade Student Papers
Looks like the City Fathers are starting to take over China's education system.
Electronic Tongues Will Rule The Kitchen
'Install taste buds in the end of one tentacle...'
