London restaurant claims fame with touch-sensitive tables, colorful menu projectors
A chic London restaurant and bar called Inamo is making patrons' dining experiences digital by projecting colorful menus and aesthetic patterns onto touch-sensitive tabletops. When browsing, patrons can preview the food as if it were on the plate in front of them -- only flatter, we suppose. They can also order their meals, look up neighborhood services, and select one of seven visual vibes without ever interacting with carbon-based lifeforms. Inamo isn't the first automated establishment we've seen, and this sort of table menu tech isn't new -- but the futuristic panache is hard to beat. Hit the read link for more pics.
[Thanks, Nvyseal]
[Thanks, Nvyseal]


















"Please don't bite the table"
And please, don't drool on it
I can see someone someone doing this.
It'll be funny to see... someone leaves the table and cleaner comes to see bite marks in the surface.
At first glance I thought the restaurant was called "LMAO"
I foresee a lawsuit between whoever makes this and Microsoft for the Surface technology. I wonder what else this technology can be used for besides at restaurants or at hotels/cell phone stores. I say.... porn shops?
Its nothing like the Microsoft Surface. Its an image projected onto the table which is then touch sensitive.. if you read. Just like in schools and colleges where they have SMART boards(touch sensitive) and a projected image from a computer/ device etc.
@Daniel, that's exactly like the Surface.. except that with Surface the projector is under the table
I bet they're going to love constantly bringing food to people who accidentally set their fork on the wrong part of the table.
"Hey! The salad looked bigger in the picture!!!"
If you can play games and stuff with other people on the table while you wait for your food this would be pretty damn cool.
You can
How long before someone tries to load OS X onto it?
why would someone load osx on it? first of all doesnt support this tech and second it sucks.
And they could have a version of MS Paint for the kids to cut down on crayon costs =P
At a place like this, I'm willing to bet their crayon budget rarely exceeds $10 per year for 100 boxes of crappy paraffin coloring sticks. Great idea for the future if something similiar to this eventually gets wheeled into fast food joints.
Will it recognize spilled sauces?
Drops of Coca-Cola?
Or they need to be attached with RFID labels..
LAN party =D
Yeah! Just some virtual food fight !!
I've eaten here and its great, you can open up a live cam of the kitchen, order a cab home, find out which bar to head to after your meal, change the colour of the tables, play games with the person opposite you. Its a great eating experience, if not a little pricey.
the table isn't touch sensitive, it has a large track pad at the side and you navigate the table like you navigate your laptop. It would be better if the table was a "surface" table, but it still works well.
Whoa, just found out it isn't MS Surface!
Knowing my luck my table would be the first to get the BSOD.
BTOD :)
Blue Steak of Death?
It's a big-ass table.
So this is what it looks like playing Guitar Hero at a board meeting.
Oooch! Hot pot!
It's about 3 doors down from me, I was wondering why the hell it took them so long to open after the tables had been put in, I guess this might explain it. The menu looks ok and not too expensive for the area all things considered. Might have to check it out once I've got some readies.
Do you mean 3 doors down from where you work? or are you absolutely loaded and live on Wardour Street?
Wow! I would love to go for dinner there..... The dinner would not be too expensive compared to the Air-fare. !!
Thats a strange statement. Now we're flying around the world to eat at a place, not for their food, but for their tables? Which, by the way, are capable of doing the same thing your average computer has been doing for years.
Well, If I say I want to dine there, dosen't mean I am specially going to go to London for dinner! But I will surely visit the restaurant when I go to London....
The light coming from the table would eventually be an annoyance, no? I don't want to see a silhouette of the food I'm eating.
For a split second there I thought I was looking at a Guitar Hero screenshot.
What I see is another system being implemented in a context where little respect is payed to existing customs of this context. What if developers would start from the beginning: offer restaurant guests a nice (or unique) social experience when they are in a hospitality context...
That sounds like it would be quite good..
Wonder the cost of those tables?
Does it play Carbon Based Lifeforms albums whilst you look at the vibes?
I've been to this restaurant twice now, once before it opened to the public. Really is a cool concept but seems to be an OHP showing the image and a track pad navigating around a cursor to select your food. Its cool - you can play Battleship with the person opposite you (though you need to hide where your ships are from them seeing!!!)...
Oh and the food is excellent!!! The sashimi salad and the pork are particularly good!!!
The future is here, and it's not an iPhone - it's a big-ass table.
(with um, food on it)
Mmmm.... yummy!
man I had that idea!
Ah well.
or a dr watson message.
This programme is about to close down cause i think your choosing the wrong thing.
"Oh I'm sorry, you'll need to sit over there, your table's broken..."
Hello Uwink????
http://www.uwink.com/
Hello junk.
MUST... RESIST... FLYING... TO... LONDON... TO ... GOATSE... THE... RESTAURANT....
GAH!!!
Ok, I'm better now. Whew!
In all seriousness, how long do you think it will take for someone to break into the restaurant's system and replace all the backgrounds with porn or, scat, or other nasty pics?
So.... when you spill your drink you have to pay $5000?
I can tell you I sure as heck wouldn't want to eat on a monitor. Aside from the fact that a light source below my plate would be darn annoying, it's totally impractical.
And those designs are ugly!
I look forward to Gordon Ramsay featuring this place on Kitchen Nightmares. He'll cut the menu, get sick in the kitchen, and tell the owner he has no bollocks.
Here's an interesting review:
http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/view/101237/Inamo
Colorful displays for bland food.