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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."
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!
-Kraft
Live and let live
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.
What's your damage, Heather?
If the bartender is as cool as Bender, :)
I think I might consider becoming a member
Cant quite be sure what you'd get if you ordered a screwdriver ;-)
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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.
-- Sorry, I can't think of anything funny to say here.
... 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..."
-- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
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.
J-aims
--
Yo, whatever happened to peas? Join T( H)GS
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...
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...
Juiced? Or Not?