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China 'Smart Restaurant' Uses Facial Recognition To Make Meal Suggestions (techcrunch.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the how-about-chicken dept.

An anonymous reader quotes TechCrunch's report about Baidu's newest project: The search giant sometimes referred to as the 'Google of China' partnered with KFC to open a new "smart restaurant" in Beijing, which employs facial recognition to make recommendations about what customers might order, based on factors like their age, gender and facial expression... image recognition hardware installed at the KFC will scan customer faces, seeking to infer moods, and guess other information including gender an age in order to inform their recommendation... And the setup also has built-in recognition, so if you're a return customer, it can 'remember' what you ordered before and suggest your past favorites.
Baidu has also worked on another KFC restaurant in Shanghai where the orders were taken by a voice-activated robot.

36 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    Based on the roundness of your face.

    1. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      They have had something like this in Japan for years. They have vending machines with facial recognition that estimates gender age. It then recommends a drink, based on trends like "middle aged women on the train platform on a hot day like to drink fruit juice".

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by quenda · · Score: 1

      Robo-waiter recommends go easy on the chilli for the Round-Eyes.

    3. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by gtall · · Score: 1

      Robot-waiter: (musing to itself) looks like Kim Jung-Un.

      Lil'Kimmy: I'd like a salad and a diet coke.

      Robot-waiter: Whoa there, Big Guy, would you feel better with a supersized Mc-Steak-O-Fat sandwich, lard induced fries, and an 80 ounce Jolt cola.

      Lil'Kimmy: Hehehe....just kidding, I'd like 800 McDoubleQuarterPounders with the extra layers of cheeze and a case of Jolt....to go.

    4. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      water

      In other words, a liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by Demolition · · Score: 1

      There's an explanation of how these vending machines work in this NHK documentary: https://youtu.be/8SNqD6YqVhQ?t=264

    6. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Begin Japanology is great, I love that show.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Robo-waiter recommends water and a salad by CaseCrash · · Score: 1

      Thank you for posting this. I just watched that episode and I think I'm going to binge watch the rest in the next couple weeks.

      --
      No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
  2. Is there a point? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    You have your customer in the store they are going to buy something if China KFC is anything like the American version most people when they get to the checkout knows what they want. At best you may recommend some up sales or push food with a higher probability. But I don't see the need for all that technology for such a small advantage.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re: Is there a point? by thundercattt · · Score: 1

      I for one like the lies. Mostly because any big purchase I do my research and form my own opinion. So, I get amused at sales pitch and why I SHOULD buy what they say. This was most amusing in purchasing a cellphone. Instantly pushed an iFone. Said no, then pushed Samsung again no. Said I wanted a Nexus, they asked....Why? They aren't knowledgeable, just know which ones they are required to push for commish

    2. Re:Is there a point? by arth1 · · Score: 2

      if China KFC is anything like the American version most people when they get to the checkout knows what they want.

      Yes, and that is the problem they attempt to solve. The goal would be changing what people want towards what gives the most profit in the least amount of time, or new items that they want customers to sample at least once.

      A little nudge, a little reminder of other items, but within what has a higher likelihood of being acceptable.
      It doesn't have to work on all or even a majority of customers; as long as it works on just a small percentage, it's still going to increase profits. As long as it's not alienating the customers, it's all good from the corporate point of view, and attempting to guess what customers will be comfortable with helps.

      I'm just surprised that it's Kingston Fried Chicken that starts with this. I would have thought that MD would have been first, given how much they already attempt to push products (to the point that I've driven out of the line in anger and went to BK instead).

    3. Re: Is there a point? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      Where I live, the folks selling cellphones are mostly students, earning their beer money. They will, of course, try to sell you the phone that pays the highest commission for them.

      Particularly lucrative for them are two year contracts with a cell provider . . . which I don't need, since my employer pays for it. They will nevertheless keep asking, "What do you pay for your cell phone service? I can offer you something cheaper!" When I finally answer, "I pay nothing", then they finally give up. Then they sell me the phone I want, with a unfriendly attitude.

      Luckily, "fast" food places won't waste time trying to sell you stuff that you don't want . . . they want to serve you and get one to the next customer, as quickly as they can.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    4. Re: Is there a point? by thundercattt · · Score: 1

      Lol yes I go through that too. I got a GREAT plan like 5 years ago that is still cheaper than today. If I built my plan on today's plans my $53 plan would be $130. I always let them view my plan then go....O...We can't beat that. Which means I can never upgrade my phone. I have to buy outright.

    5. Re: Is there a point? by thundercattt · · Score: 1

      People say they want fresh, but then go-to restaurants that are known for frozen food IE Boston Pizza. Many chef shows will make a homemade pasta dish with herbs etc then put it against pot noodles and people pick the pot noodles. The manufactured food kills taste buds. So I can see smart restaurants popping up quick along with pre packaged food even more so. When I dine out I can instantly tell if it's fresh/frozen, microwaved vs cooked. 90% of the time I eat at home.

    6. Re: Is there a point? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Wasn't there a study that found people intrinsically trust robots and automatons more than actual people?

      That seems reasonable. I certainly trust an ATM more than I trust the cashier at the grocery store. If ATMs miscounted money, I would have heard about the problem, so I rarely bother to double check. Human cashiers miscount all the time, although mostly out of carelessness rather than dishonesty.

    7. Re:Is there a point? by E-Lad · · Score: 1

      This, plus the aspect of us steadily outsourcing personal decisions and choices. Makes me wonder if the future General Public will actually be capable of thinking for themselves without having some technological crutch be a part of it.

    8. Re: Is there a point? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      Luckily, "fast" food places won't waste time trying to sell you stuff that you don't want . . . they want to serve you and get one to the next customer, as quickly as they can.

      You'd think so, right? But recently, the trend at my local KFC drive-through is a recording: "Welcome to KFC, would you like to try our _____?", to which I growl "No", and then I get to talk to a human. I have no idea why it irritates me so much, to be honest.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  3. But mind your manners by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    On your next visit it might just put in an order for a knuckle sandwich.

    I hear the robotic maître d' has a wicked uppercut.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Upsize by dohzer · · Score: 1

    I bet it always recommends the customer upsizes their meal.

  5. Probably not that complex by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    If you look Asian, all the Chinese food. If you look western, only the meals the westerns like (because there is a lot of stuff in the Chinese food we don't like!)

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  6. Robo-waiter recommends bucket of lard by Kjella · · Score: 2

    Based on the roundness of your face and the profit margin. They don't care about your health.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  7. Re:So it's like Netflix by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    It's not really about helping you out with recommendations. It's about providing a novelty, seemingly personalized service as a way to sell more food. It also helps introduce new products and encourage customers to try different things, maximizing profit for the restaurant.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  8. Re:Ob Steve Martin Quote by Mikkeles · · Score: 2

    No soup for you!

    --
    Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
  9. Return customer by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Please read TFSummary until the expression : "return customer".

    They don't care about your health.

    They DO care a tiny bit about the customers' health. Not as much as to earn a Nobel price, but just barely enough to make sure that customer lives long enough to return again and spend their money again.
    (That's why they don't outright actively try to poison their customers)

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Return customer by c · · Score: 1

      They DO care a tiny bit about the customers' health. Not as much as to earn a Nobel price, but just barely enough to make sure that customer lives long enough to return again and spend their money again.

      True enough, but I'm willing to bet that the point where the health versus profit curve peaks is not a place where the average person should or wants to be.

      If the industry has any brains then that curve and any research behind it will be buried deeply enough that the inevitable obesity epidemic fast food industry lawsuits won't discover it.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    2. Re:Return customer by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      I work as a programmer for KFC. Here is the source code for the recommendation algorithm:

      String
      getRecommendation(Customer customer)
      {
            switch (getCustomerPreference(customer.facialImage)) {
              default:
                      return "Chicken";
              }
      }

  10. Could quickly become annoying by ITRambo · · Score: 1

    If I'm at KFC, I want chicken of some kind. I'll decide what, based on what I have a taste for, not what a programmer typed into an algorithm.

    1. Re:Could quickly become annoying by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If the algorithm is actually really smart, it will advise you to avoid all fast foods, including KFC.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  11. Funny story by wbr1 · · Score: 2
    When KFC first kame to China in 1987, the slogan was mis translated. Instead of "Finger Lickin' Good", it was "eat your fingers off". http://www.oddee.com/item_9773...

    Wonder how this could go wrong.....

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  12. has to be done by sheramil · · Score: 1

    Let's start a patreon to fund a visit from Danny John-Jules dressed up as the Cat, and have him go in there and repeatedly ask for "Fish!"

  13. They always run... by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 1

    John Anderton! You could use a Guinness right now!

  14. Funnier if it were fecal recognition by ichthus · · Score: 1

    I was thinking it would be funnier if it was:
    China 'Smart Restaurant' Uses Fecal Recognition To Make Meal Suggestions

    "So, Chang Li, it seems you need more bran in your diet. Ditch the won ton and have a muffin, k?"

    --
    sig: sauer
  15. Re:Coming soon to a China near you: by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    You deserve +1 funny, but on the serious side, starving people has historically being one of the few efficient way to cause a revolution. Do not bet chinese leaders ignore that.

  16. Re:Round eye by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Perhaps it can advise on quantity: "your leaver can stand one extra serving".

  17. Should be easy enough by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    Theres not to many options at KFC.... There's chicken, chicken or Chicken burger..

    --
    [($)]
  18. "Fecal Recognition" by The+Creator · · Score: 1

    Just NO!!!

    --

    FRA: STFU GTFO