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Intelligent Coasters Keep Beer Mugs Full
Dotnaught writes "CNN.com is reporting that two German students have invented a beer mat, or coaster, that uses sensor chips to determine when the beer glass it supports is empty and then radios the bartender for a refill. One of the students interviewed for the story suggested that lifting mugs from sensing mats could double as a voting system during karaoke competitions." From the article: "Unlike the usual cardboard beer mats, the invention is made out of plastic, which means it does not absorb water. Butz said that to get around the problem, ordinary cardboard mats could be placed on top of the plastic version to absorb liquid and display advertising. 'Cardboard beer mats could still sit on top of the plastic mat and there could still be advertising, and you would just exchange the cardboard mat when you wanted to change the advertising.'"
...aren't these (or similar) invented by somebody every year? Yet they seem to still be few and far between... What I'm trying to say is, why should this one be any different?
webpage
Thank god we can display advertising on the cardboard.
My life is complete. Now I don't even have to speak to bartenders! I can just use my mouth for its One True Purpose, the ingestion of sufficient quantities of "liquid bread".
Germany is where?
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
Before a whole bunch of us scream "dupe," yes, we've seen this before, but this time it's the mugs that are phoning the bar. Let's see 'em!
Another Beer Please
Beer Stein Goes Hi Tech
Sometimes, I don't WANT another beer (usually when I can't afford another beer).
...but can it tell when you've had enough for the night?
I don't get it.
These are almost exactly the same as the in-glass system I read about in a Mitsubishi R&D pdf a while back. linky, google html conversion it uses the table for power and data transmission, and detects liquid level through electric resistance measurements. neat stuff
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
So can these things be modified to handle pitchers? I rarely ever get individual beers, as I count my beers by the liter.
...the robot barkeep, R2 style.
Also, this brings us one step closer to humanities highest achievement to be...
Do not confuse "Freedom of Choice" with "Free Will".
Why not just have buttons to push if a beer is needed. The button could be on the coaster, or just on the bar, or at the tables, or whatever. That would probably be cheaper. That also solves the problem of having finished one beer, but not wanting another. Not to mention people walking out of the bar with the coaster, etc.
On se Internetz nobody noes your German.
Praise god for this Intelligent Design! A great step in the evolution of beer mugs!
Hmm, being a regular male chauvinist pig, I think I much prefer a breasty bar girl in a short skirt coming to ask me whether I want another...
Oh well, what the hell...
Useful? Hell, the inventor should be shot. What insensitive clod would design something to replace a sexy, breasty, scantily clad bar girl???
Oh well, what the hell...
Giving the coasters total control of beer? They could keep mankind enslaved.
I, for one, welcome our new Intelligent Coaster Overlords.
Eventually, this technology will be implantable. If not incorporated into the beer itself. Nanosensors and data aggregators will form a network in and about you, measuring everything from mood to liver enzyme capability, capable of automatically signalling the bartender based not only on the emptiness of the glass, but the emptiness of your glass, belly, wallet, hopes, and/or bladder.
Allow me to quote from the article: They're computer scientists. They're intimidated by sexy, breasty, scantily clad bar girls. However, they're German (and university denizens at that), hence they like beer.
I believe they've found the perfect solution to their problem!
i'm gonna make my own coaster! with blackjack, and hookers~!
on second thought forget the coaster, and the blackjack.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
How about you embed these in tables/bars? Then you don't have to worry about it getting stolen, and you make the process more transparent to the client. And you can keep the standard coasters. Just make it intuitive that the place you put your cardboard coasters is on top of the embedded plastic one.
Here's a bit of trivia that some of you might know. It's common for a bartender to refill your mug without you asking when they see your mug completely empty, especially in Germany. If you leave a little beer on the bottom, the bartender won't give you a refill.
In the US it's common for them to refill your mug without asking if it's less than a quarter full and you aren't laying on the floor and you haven't assaulted another patron. At least in Jacksonville Beach. I love this town.
The Czechs at U Zlateho Tigra have a simpler system.
They serve one beer. (an excellent one).
They serve one kind of mug (half-liter).
It is presumed that if you have an empty in front of you, you want another.
A guy goes around the room looking for empties. He carries as many beers as he can hold. He takes your empty, puts down the new beer and marks your coaster to "add" the new beer to the tally. Then he goes back to the bar, loads up with more beers and heads out.
If you don't want the beer, you must say "no!"
When finished, you pay. He counts up and you are done.
That's it: free but for the paper (or coaster) used for the tab. Works great. No need to even talk to the guy.
Ruthelessly efficient.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
It was if millions of alcoholics called out in unison and were suddenly happy.
I couldn't fail to disagree with you any less.
Am I the only one who read that as "Intelligent Roller Coasters Keep Beer Mugs Full?"
My only thought was, "I can take my beer with me on the roller coaster, and it won't spill? Sweet!"
I thought that they were really on to something. Then, I read the summary...
When I first read the headline, I was thinking of intelligent roller-coasters that somehow managed to keep your beer mugs from spilling while you rode along.... "Now that's technology for you", I thought to myself.
What insensitive clod would design something to replace a sexy, breasty, scantily clad bar girl???
You don't understand how the invention works - it's not intended to replace the bar girl, it's intended to SUMMON the bar girl. The faster you drink your beer, the more often the bar girl comes to see you.
paintball