Tech Travel Week Round Up #1
There was so much more tech travel news then usual this week that I decided to summarize it all in one big post rather then slowly publishing it.
1) High Tech Tables
A new restaurant located in Soho, London is offering it dinners a new interactive experience with every meal. Patrons of Inamo will be seated at what is essentially a giant table top computer screen. You can order your food, a taxi, play games, change the appearance of the table, and even pay the bill. Read more.
There is even a similar resturant in the United States created by one of Ataris founders.
In the U.S., the uWink franchise allows diners to order food and drink via touch screens, as well as play games and watch movie previews. There’s a place on the table for swiping your credit card when you’re ready to pay the bill.
The brainchild of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari Inc., the first franchise opened in Woodland Hills, Calif., in 2006, with restaurants also in Hollywood and Mountain View.
“UWink is the only touch-screen restaurant in the United States,” said Alissa Tappan, a spokeswoman for the Van Nuys, Calif.-based company. “On our touch-screen terminals are short games, word puzzles, trivia quizzes, horoscopes and a wide variety of activities.”
Restaurant featured on Engadget
2) Market Fresh Micropocessors
The birthplace of the semiconductor is now a small fruit market. Only a small plauqe marks the historic home of its inventor, another historical marker had been placed at the market but has since been removed. Read More.
The Fiesta Super Market located at 391 San Antonio Road in Mountain View, Calif., sprang to life about three months ago…William Shockley, the famous (some would say infamous) physicist who started a semiconductor laboratory on the site and hired many of the chip industry’s founding fathers.
http://gizmodo.com/5048923/silicon-valleys-birthplace-of-the-semiconductor-now-a-fruit-and-vegetable-stand
3) Gadget Filled Bridge
Last year a bridge in Minosota collapsed taking the lives of 13 people. The tragedy highlighted the growing problems in the United States infustructure. Hoping the avoid the terrible tradgey that occured the bridge built to replace the previous one after the collapse has been loaded with all sorts of high tech features. Read More.
The $234 million bridge is wired with hundreds of sensors that collect data on everything from how the bridge handles loads and vibrations to corrosion levels from road salt—and its redundant design ensures that the bridge will stay up even if a section should fail. The sensors will also work together with a camera system that will monitor and collect data on traffic flow. There are even sensors that can activate a de-icing system when necessary. All of this data will feed into a control room near the bridge where it can be analyzed by DOT workers and researchers.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/18/minneapolis.bridge.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech
Tags: Inamo, tech, Tech Travel
