Berlin's Robotic Pub

Gallamine writes: "Take a trip to Berlin, and visit the Automaten Bar to have a drink served by a robot. This members-only bar is completely automated. While this may sound rather cool, the part I find disturbing is the fact that the owner plans on webcamming the security cameras so you can check on who's at the pub. The owner also wants to make it so you can have a SMS message sent to you when a particular person's entrance card is swiped by the system. I guess the idea is that you can get an e-mail to let you know that Bob is having a drink so you can stop by and chat. While it sounds like a bunch of baloney to me, it appears to be pretty popular in Berlin, as they've already got 130 members after 2 weeks without any advertising."

Comments

Hi my name is Robo

[Sleeper]

I will be serving to you tonight. The mandatory 15% tip will be automatically deducted from off-shore bank account.

video interview with one of the creators

[Kraft]

I found an interview (German) with artist Gereon Schmitz, cocreator of Automaten bar. He also has a pretty interesting website (flash).

But no pictures of the bar!

Only popular w/single people, I bet

[Brento]

I guess the idea is that you can get an e-mail to let you know that Bob is having a drink so you can stop by and chat.

Grrrreat. Just what I need, my girlfriend having the ability to get an SMS message on her phone whenever I violate my no-carb diet.

Re:Only popular w/single people, I bet

[jmccay]

That would be just the start. What's to stop bill collects from doing the same thing? What about stalkers and other crazy people?
I bet law inforcement will like it. If they need to track down someone who frequents the bar, they can just get an e-mail!
I bet insurance companies would love it too becuase what's to stop the owner from recording what people are drinking? If you get in an accident, they could just check up on you and see how many you had too drink.
If the information is being stored on what you drink, it could then be sold to Health insurance companies. The health insurance companies can then charge based on the good, and bad, practices you have on drinking. They could, and probably would, use it as a cost saver.

Bender

[FullClip]

If the bartender is as cool as Bender,
I think I might consider becoming a member :)

What about the drunks?

[cfulmer]

Hmm... So, in the US, there are all sorts of liability suits about things like "The bartender knew I was drunk, but he let me drive myself home anyway," and there's always the occasional bar fight to respond to. Don't know how they handle that in this bar. Or, how does the bartender respond to the suicidal guy whose wife just left him? Bartenders do a lot more than just serve drinks.

I wonder if they have electronic "Norm"s and "Cliff"s as well....

Re:What about the drunks?

[thenerd]

So, in the US, there are all sorts of liability suits about things like "The bartender knew I was drunk, but he let me drive myself home anyway,"

I think the main problem is that really, one shoudl be responsible for your actions. If you drove while you are drunk it is nobodies fault but yours. You are stupid to do it, and if you hurt someone, you deserve to be punished. It's a silly thing to do. The bartender can't possibly be able to accurately guage whether the 200 people in his bar are above the legal limit for the region, and planning to drive home. It is unreasonable.

thenerd.

Re:What about the drunks?

[rm-r]

I don't know about Germans, but any Brit who is caught drink-driving recevies an automatic ban of at least one year and has to take a much harder test afterward to regain their license. Anyone who causes an accident whilst drink-driving can expect up to ten years in nick, even more if someone dies and never see their license again. There has also been a consilidated push by government to over the last ten years to real bastardify drink-drivers (you should see the TV ads we get around Christmas, they get worse each year) so that drink-driving is simply no longer socially acceptable (a few years ago it was seen as ok to 'just have a couple' or 'have one for the road')

Police are allowed to stop any when they suspect of being drunk and breathalyse them, it is an offence to refuse a sample, anyone near the limit (which works out at about 1 litre of 5% ABV beer in an average sized man) is taken to the station for a blood test (if you refuse on religious grounds you get a urine test, but they hold you longer)

I heard that the US was a lot more lax, maybe that is why it has more of a problem there- any USians care to tell us what the rules are, is it State based or Federal?

Most people over here have no sympathy for drink-drivers and I think it is this unacceptability that has driven it down more than anything else.

Re:What about the drunks?

[radish]

All true, but I think the real difference is the legal culture. If I got arrested for drink driving after leaving my local, the last thing I'd think of doing would be too sue the barman. The british culture is one of "responsibility for your own actions", rather than the US one which is all too often "find someone else to blame".

Carefull what you order

[Andy.T.BOFH]

Cant quite be sure what you'd get if you ordered a screwdriver ;-)

Cynthia's Cyberbar in London

[twoshortplanks]

Has had a robot bartender for years...

http://www.cynbar.co.uk/

The robot was rather clunky and took ages to serve drinks...nothing at all like the nimble robots out of Short Circuit that mixed drinks. Also, it was all very 'mix this and mix this.' None of the cool presentation you get from a decent bartender. The worst thing is that they have to have a human to take your money anyhow (something to do with not having automated alchol serving machines by law IIRC).

Don't really like the place myself...when I went in about a year back it was all covered in mirrors and hady the most tacky decor. The Anchor nearby is a much better pub, with real beer, seats by the river for the summer and warm fire in the winter in a classic hundred+ year old english pub.

Breathe Into My Ear...

[heretic108]

... purred the synthesised female voice of the sexy-looking robot.
The patron willingly obliges.
The robot's voice loses its seductive charm and, growing sterner and less human, intones:
"Blood... alcohol... levels... excessive... no... more... alcohol... for... seventy... three... minutes..."

Timothy, get that compulsive knee jerking seen to

[Rogerborg]

• the part I find disturbing is the fact that the owner plans on webcamming the security cameras so you can check on who's at the pub

You do know what "pub" is an abbreviation of, right? Public house.

I'll (selectively but honestly) pick one definition of public:

• Open to the knowledge or judgment of all

Get a clue, get a life, get a job, get a haircut, whatever. But do yourself a favour and don't write single sentences that highlight that you're either trolling or a moron. Although I concede, that's not necessarily an "or" proposition.

But can it pour a Guinness ??

[macarthy]

... Irish concerns

This is cool, not "disturbing"!

[pubjames]

While this may sound rather cool, the part I find disturbing is the fact that the owner plans on webcamming the security cameras so you can check on who's at the pub.

Is this a site for nerds or what? This bar owner is doing something cool with technology, and the main point you make is that you find it disturbing? What is there to be paranoid about? Really?? I can't think of a reason to find this disturbing. Please explain...

Cams in bars...

[UM_Maverick]

Depending on the bar, cams can be a fun addition...at The Rack in Boston, they have webcams all over the place, and you can control them online...www.therack.com

I guess when your clientele is as attractive as the people who frequent that place on a friday/saturday night, it can't hurt to make views of the place available online...

Heres a novel solution...

[Captain_Frisk]

If you're single. Now your wife will know that you are in the pub, because she was emailed when you entered. :-)

Or you could just tell your wife that you're going to the bar. She's your wife, she has the right to know these things.... you'd want to know if she was out at a bar right?

Webcamming not bad

[cybercuzco]

I wish that more security cameras were webcammed. Who says that only the police shoudl be allowed to know whats going on? What if theres a brutal police beating and the police just "happen" t o lose the video tape? I think corruption among law enforcement officers would be greatly reduced if every security camera were webcammed. What if that quick-e-mart clerk is taking hotdogs off the floor and selling them? webcam his ass. The only way that public cameras dont violate any rights is if they are truly public and available to everyone, not a select few.

Re:State-based

[Andy Dodd]

Good point w.r.t the powers of federal government. The Feds have no influence whatsoever on drinking aged and speed limits, but it's amazing the power little green pieces of paper and their electronic brethren have... The reason the legal drinking age is 21 in *every* state in the US is not because the government passed a nationwide law, but because the government withheld highway maintenance funds from all states that didn't comply.

Penalties, etc. for drunk driving vary a lot, but they're getting much stricter very quickly these days. Laws are definately stricter in the Northeast than in the South or Southwest. Most Northeastern states (NY, NJ, PA, etc.) have "open container" laws - There are stiff penalties for even having an open container of alcohol in your vehicle, even if you're not the one drinking. (i.e. you can get heavily fined and jail time is a possibility if your passengers are drinking and you're dead sober.)

On the other hand, according to a friend that went to Rice University in Houston, "open container" laws are a completely alien concept in Texas, where a bunch of college students can sit in the back of a moving pickup (illegal in the Northeast in and of itself) and drink to their heart's content.