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Toys Hardware

Another Beer Please 333

Posted by michael from the brooklyn-lager dept.
jmichaelg writes "What do you get when you combine a glass, a PIC computer, two capacitors, a coil and a zener Diode? A wireless beer glass that signals your waiter when you need a refill. The circuit is an RFID transponder that measures the fluid level in a glass and transmits a globally unique ID coupled to the fluid level reading when queried by an antenna hidden in your table. The query provides enough power to drive the circuit so no batteries are needed. A technical paper describes the circuitry in the table and the glass." This hit the news over a year ago, but we didn't have the technical details.
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Another Beer Please More

Another Beer Please

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  • This isn't helping (Score:5, Funny)

    by mfivis ( 592345 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:05AM (#6548790) Homepage
    Okay- this doesn't help our obesity issues at all. We're the only country with drivethroughs every 5 feet and now we are spared the exercise of raising our hand to signal the waiting staff for a refill.

    • Re:This isn't helping (Score:4, Interesting)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:16AM (#6548841) Journal
      Speaking of which, drivethroughs have been hacked. Who wants to bet a couple of drunk grad students whip up something (RFID is pretty damn easy to forge) that sends the waiters scurrying all over?

      • Drivethru Hacking (Score:4, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:58AM (#6548979)
        When I was in college, one of my favorite pranks was to get in the drive-thru, slip past the order taker panel and snug up into line right behind the car in front of me and wait.

        Somebody would eventually pull up behind me and order. I would get whatever it was they ordered. If it was a big family, I would simply say I got trapped in the line and pass on thru, but if it was another single, chances are he ordered something simple too.. so I would just take it as if nothing happened pay for it, then pull around and park in the lot and watch all the confusion at all the subsequent orders being all out of sync.

        Another funny thing is a lot of those order-taker panels were actually little two-way radios. With a strong local mobile rig, you could "capture" the carrier and make do like the restaurant. It was hilarious making do like the order-taker and playing with the customers.

        And I post AC for a reason. There may be many out there that remember those pranks.

        • Farking with order-takers II (Score:5, Funny)

          by LinuxHam ( 52232 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @08:12AM (#6549692) Homepage Journal
          Back when I frequented Mickey D's, I would often listen in on their headset freq. On a couple of occasions, I would turn the radio way up and cause feedback. "Owww! What the HELL is that?!?!" On one other occasion, the order-taker was being a smart ass. She would ask each and every customer..

          OT: "is that everything?"
          C: "yes"
          OT: "are you sure?"
          C: "uh, yes"
          OT: "100%"
          C: "YES"

          so when she asked me if I was sure, I replied, "100%". The next few seconds of silence was among the funniest in memory.
        • I was listening to the webcast of one of the HOPE cnventions, or maybe I read it in 2600. Anyway, the idea was to take a small hand held radio that could also transmit. Park between say a Taco Bell and a McDonalds. Find the send frequencies and receive frequencies for both the drive-up speakers. The fun part: broadcast the McD's send to the TacoBell receive, and vice versa, and with the other store. Hillarity ensued.
    • No, that's not right. The drivethroughts are every 5 km.

      Oh bugger, I forgot. New Zealand is not the whole world, there are slashdot contributors from other countries.
    • "... now we are spared the exercise of raising our hand to signal the waiting staff for a refill."
      But at least the wait staff will stay thin...

    • Re:This isn't helping (Score:4, Insightful)

      by BrokenHalo ( 565198 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:50AM (#6549104)
      And who would want the damn thing to order another beer when you've had enough? Perhaps this guy should go and get a life (or at least a job).

    • Re:This isn't helping (Score:5, Funny)

      by madMingusMax ( 693022 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:07AM (#6549131)
      We may be fat and lazy, but damn! we sure are efficient!

    • Re:This isn't helping (Score:4, Funny)

      by deltronzero ( 673472 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:18AM (#6549153)
      Yeah, but having your pint glass perpetually full will help make all the hefty members of the opposite sex look much more attractive.

  • Finally! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by macshune ( 628296 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:06AM (#6548793) Journal
    Some use for RFIDs that doesn't lead to a police state! Only more beer for all! Horray for bread & circuses!

    • Citizen #43943949, (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      According to our logs you have been drinking way too much beer lately. Report to the nearest government office for rehabilitation. Failure to comply will result in severe beatings.

    • Re:Finally! (Score:2, Funny)

      by SaraSmith ( 602197 )
      WOW! I'm amazed at this technology, waiters simply looking at the glass and checking on their tables regularly would never work. I hope they come out with plates that somehow tell you when you're done chewing your food so people know when to swallow too.

      • Re:Finally! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by shyster ( 245228 ) <.brackett. .at. .ufl.edu.> on Monday July 28, 2003 @05:06AM (#6549264) Homepage
        WOW! I'm amazed at this technology, waiters simply looking at the glass and checking on their tables regularly would never work. I hope they come out with plates that somehow tell you when you're done chewing your food so people know when to swallow too.

        Speaking as a former waiter, I know that a good deal of a waiter's time is taken up by simply checking on fluid levels. And that some people will have a full glass of beer/water/whatever for 10 minutes, but then drain the entire glass in 60 seconds. Quite difficult to time that refill.

        If the waiter no longer had to constantly monitor drinks, it would free them up to handle more customers and/or provide better service.

        • Except you must realize that if the waiter had more time to wait on more pople, he would be given more than that many mroe people to serve. We would have 50 tables waited by one poor waiter and service wouldn't catch up.
  • my woman for a beer refill all the time but it usually results in a clip about the ear and me being told to get off my lazy ass and do something useful.

  • So what happens when... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sTavvy ( 669239 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:07AM (#6548808)
    You don't want another drink, but your glass/table has ordered you another one, and teh waiter brings it over???
    and then proceeds to add the drink to the bill even though you didn't drink it, but you did order it.?

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Advocadus Diaboli ( 323784 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:15AM (#6548837)
      Well, usually I pay for what I have ordered. In that case the glass placed the order without my approval, so I pay only the first one and all refills have to be charged to the glass. :-)

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You just don't drink the last fucking glass! In Japan, it's considered impolite not to keep your guest's glass topped up. So, when the said guest has had enough, the wise course of action is to leave the glass full.

      The real world has deeper meanings than what-you-see-is-what-you-get. STOP THINKING LIKE COMPUTER ENGINEERS!

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:5, Funny)

      by EinarH ( 583836 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:16AM (#6548846) Journal
      Dude; this is slashdot, haven't you heard all that talk about Free Beer?
    • Good question.
      But I was thinking(smell smoke yet?). Why haven't bars and restaurants started using electronic menus or small kiosks at tables? Surely it would be much easier to select what you want from a touch screen and have it transmitted to the kitchen. Sure, you don't have the same level of interaction you do with a waiter, but surely it would be more efficient.

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by pod ( 1103 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:12AM (#6549014) Homepage
      Well, common sense tells me that the sensor will signal your server, who will come over and ask if anyone wants another drink. Just because it's RFID doesn't mean it has to be complicated, or track you, or infringe your freedoms, or take money out of your wallet.

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I'm sure the restraunts that (will) use this technology will have thought of that. It will probably only signal a waiter and the waiter will ask if you want another glass. I thought the members a "news for nerds" site would be a little smarter. Common'!

    • Re:So what happens when... (Score:4, Funny)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:37AM (#6549203) Homepage Journal
      well it's just the same thing that happens always..

      you end up home absolutely smashed.

      and what you gotta complain when you don't have the beer prices of finland(or norway/sweden).

      now what i would be worried would be when they include this in shot glasses.

  • Definitely neat. But... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mackstann ( 586043 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:08AM (#6548811) Homepage
    Is it REALLY that hard to just walk around and look at peoples' glasses?

    Yes, ideally, someday, we can all just lay around half conscious, being tended to by robots. It'll be great, because robots are NEAT!

    I think it's good to be a bit of a luddite.

    • Re:Definitely neat. But... (Score:5, Funny)

      by bazik ( 672335 ) <bazik&gentoo,org> on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:15AM (#6548835) Homepage Journal
      Is it REALLY that hard to just walk around and look at peoples' glasses?

      You haven't been at the Oktoberfest [oktoberfest.de] yet ;)

      • Re:Definitely neat. But... (Score:5, Informative)

        by BadDoggie ( 145310 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @05:52AM (#6549360) Homepage Journal
        And you've never actually worked as a server there. There are about 10,000 guests in each tent, being served by about 50-80 women who have to carry up to a dozen freshly-filled 1-liter mugs (Maßkruüge), each weighing in at 2.2kg. Calm down and wait your turn. Maybe if you tried tipping more than the 12 cents to round it up to the next full euro you'd get better service.

        This advice on Oktoberfest bears repeating:

        1. Put your butt on a bench and they'll bring you a beer. You will NOT be served at Oktoberfest unless you are seated. Everyone will let you sit down for the two or three minutes necessary to order a beer if you ask nicely and tell them that's what you're doing.
        2. Tourists go to the HB (Hofbräuhaus); the best beer is Augustiner.
        3. To be sure to get faster service, fuller beer steins and better food, tip 15% or more. The women work HARD (and if you had to listen to the "Hey, Baby" song 3 times an hour, 13 hours a day for 2 1/2 weeks straight, you'd understand).
        I don't need a mug that tells the staff I need another beer; I need one that tells me I don't!

        woof.

    • iThought iOf iAn iAddon iTo iThe iGlassware!

      (because everything sounds cooler with an "i" infront of it).

      How about an "iTip", which has a big LED digital display that automatically counts down the waiter/waitress's tip until the glass is refilled/replaced! Because with iGlassware, there's no excuse for my glass being empty!

      N.

  • This is why technology will ultimately fail us (Score:5, Funny)

    by corebreech ( 469871 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:08AM (#6548813) Journal
    Because the more advanced we become, the drunkerer we get.
    • This is why technology will ultimately fail us: Because the more advanced we become, the drunkerer we get.

      You know, it wasn't bread that was the reason that agrarian communities formed. It was beer.

      I'd venture that "how drunk it can get me" is a reliable measure for the advancement of any technology.

  • RFID tags (Score:5, Funny)

    by jmobley ( 463432 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:08AM (#6548814)
    So... RFID tags are our friend now? I'm so confused.

    /goes off to get a beer

    • Oh christ (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Tokerat ( 150341 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:22AM (#6548866) Journal

      RFID tags are only as evil as those who use them. Just because your beer glass has an RFID tag in it does NOT mean you need a tin-foil hat to go to the bar.

      You know, you coudl complain just as much about 802.11 and Bluetooth, because they can be used in similar ways with a little effort.

      Monitor the general vicinity of your laptop? Record what store security systems your PDA enters? Hell, triangulate your cel phone signal (and now GPS it), a wireless electronic item quite personally associated with you by a corporate entity, nonetheless.

      Please TFY next time. That's "Think For Yourself", and I think it should become as popular as "IANAL" and "RTFA" here on "/."

      (Sorry if this was a joke, but the first thing I thought of when I read this article is "Great, another RFID bitchfest")
    • So... RFID tags are our friend now?

      Nope, he's just a drunk who likes pron and wearing womens underwear.

      It's all going to the central database

    • Re:RFID tags (Score:5, Funny)

      by jerkychew ( 80913 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:28AM (#6548893) Homepage
      Like most things in life, they get much friendlier when beer is involved.

  • Wow! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gregfortune ( 313889 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:10AM (#6548816)
    And I'm still sitting here trying to puzzle out how the signal from the table provides enough power to run the circuitry in the glass. I remember some talk about wireless power and I think Tessla had it figured out a long time ago, but it still boggles my mind :)

    And I haven't even started puzzling how a glass full of ice is somehow different than a glass full of beer.

    The things geeks play with when they get bored...

    • Re:Wow! (Score:5, Funny)

      by shird ( 566377 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:13AM (#6548830) Homepage Journal
      And I keep puzzling over your idea of putting ice in a glass of beer.
      • he he, shows you how much I drink *grin*

        The comment came from a statment in the article that said the circuitry should be able to tell that a glass with just ice in it is actually empty. So, there must be some kind of alcholic drink that you put ice in...

        lol, I think I'll just go to bed now..

    • Inductive coupling (Score:2, Informative)

      by anubi ( 640541 )
      Re: "And I'm still sitting here trying to puzzle out how the signal from the table provides enough power to run the circuitry in the glass.":

      Inductive coupling. Those PIC chips don't require much power at ALL to run! Like in the microamp region. All they have to do is put a ferrite flux concentrator in the bottom of the glass, and it will coax the magnetic flux to intercept the energy pickup/transmit coil. The data could be easily be transmitted by selectively loading the coil in a serial fashion. Th

      • Re:Inductive coupling (Score:4, Informative)

        by edhall ( 10025 ) <slashdot@weirdnoise.com> on Monday July 28, 2003 @06:28AM (#6549418) Homepage

        Read the article; it's far more ingenious than that. The coil is just feed into two PIC inputs, and the PIC's static-protection diodes do the rectification. A zener and a cap across the power pins complete the power supply.

        It gets better. They use the clock pin as one of those inputs. Thus the chip is clocked by the received RF. And by briefing switching the other input to an output, they communicate pulses back to the sender. (That right -- no separate RFID chip, the PIC does all the sending as well as the sensing.)

        Speaking of sensing, it gets even better. The capacitance measurement used to determine the fluid level is done by switiching two other input/output pins and a fixed capacitor to create a charge pump measurement. By counting the number of times a charge on the fluid-measuring capacitance has to be transfered to the fixed capacitor to bring it up to a logic level, they measure picofarad differences corresponding to changing fluid levels easily.

        An utterly amazing bit of minimalist engineering!

        -Ed

    • Re:Wow! (Score:3, Informative)

      by Abm0raz ( 668337 )
      I remember some talk about wireless power and I think Tessla had it figured out a long time ago, but it still boggles my mind :)

      There are lots of everyday examples of wireless power to get energy from one place to another without physical contact. Sunlight, induction, convection, radiation, sound, etc... I believe these are planning to run on induction coils. Very similar to a crystal set radio (a very cheap radio receiver that boyscouts can choose to build for a badge). It can pick-up standard radio
    • Youve obviously never seen a crystal radio either then... Go to Radio Shack and buy the kit for $10, build a radio that plays to an earphone without any external power source other than the radio signal.

  • hrm. (Score:5, Funny)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:11AM (#6548820)
    What's so interesting about a wireless beer glass--aren't they *all* wireless? Was there a failed wired beer glass prototype that /. didn't report on? ...as for signalling the waiter when you need a refill, it's already the waiter's job to look at the glass and ask the customer if he wants another. If the beer glass replaced this function, then I'd have to start tipping the glass instead of the waiter... and there's no way I'm going to tip my precious glass of beer!

  • RFIDs would suck in Star Wars... (Score:5, Funny)

    by macshune ( 628296 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:12AM (#6548826) Journal
    Obi-Wan: These are not the droids you are looking for...
    Storm Troopers: Actually sir, yes, they are. These droids have a globally unique identifier that signals they are indeed the droids we are looking for. What's it to you, anyways? *pause* Hey, wait a second! We just scanned your robe and found out that you bought your robe using your Imperial Credit Card....MR. KENOBI
    Obi-Wan: Uhhhh... Uhhh...
    • Fortunately, "globally unique" doesn't mean so much when you're intragalactic adventurers.

      Obi-Wan: There seems to be some mistake, I have owned this robe for a long, long timee -- what was that name you called me again? -- and these droids were purchased at Imperial auction on Coruscant several years ago. I assure you, these are not the droids you are looking for. I can show you papers if you like...

      Storm Trooper 1: Gee, I dunno sir, don't you think the chances of that ID being the same is kind of a huge coincidence?

      Storm Trooper 2: Well, he did say he bought the droids on Coruscant...

      Storm Trooper 1: That's true, but I still think we better check in with the Captain...

      Obi-Wan draws sabre...

  • Responsible Service of Alcohol (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sTavvy ( 669239 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:15AM (#6548839)
    Also kind of throws the "Responsible service Of Alcohol" policy that we have in Australia.
    How is the glass going to know how drunk the person is, and if they should be seerved any more alcohol?
    • Obviously it looks at your credit card's RFID and cross matches it with the last time you bought curry or McD's at 2am, comparing with how many you had that night!

      What you really should be asking, is does your SO get access to the logs to see how much you REALLY had to drink and where?
    • How is the glass going to know how drunk the person is, and if they should be seerved any more alcohol?

      Well, you see, it tells the waiter that the glass is empty. Remember, if your still able to avoid the floor, your sober enough for another beer.
    • As an australian, I feel that if I can walk to the bar without too much help, I should be served more alcohol...

      Although nothing is funnier than when they'll serve me and I'm off my tits, but my mate who's half as drunk is too loud / unco and the won't give him another beer :)
    • Perhaps the next step is either:
      a) A sharp edge on the handle that samples your blood and tests it for alcohol content
      b) A rim around the edge that samples your saliva and does the same
      or
      c) A mike in the glass with Sensi-Drunk (tm) voice sampling technology that measures the volume, content (sexual references, fart jokes and ways to solve the world's problems are a giveaway) and slur factor of your voice and cuts you off (usually when you start yelling incoherently about how the situation in the middle east

    • A better question... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:26AM (#6549042) Homepage
      "How is the glass going to know how drunk the person is, and if they should be seerved any more alcohol?"

      How is the glass going to be able to walk over to the bar, hop under the tap, and fill itself up with more beer?

      There's still a person in the equation, so don't worry about it.
    • Do you think the glass is going to float over to the bar, fill itself, float back to your table, and then proceed to empty itself into your mouth (which it presumably has ways of opening)? I don't think we need an RFID for your glass, if so.

  • Conflicted. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:20AM (#6548862)
    I thought we hates RFIDs. No, no we loves them when they have beer involved! Shut up, you! RFIDs are our enemies. Hssssss! But beer is our precioussssss..... NO SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! We hates the RF-trickies. We hates them. I thought.... we liked.... beer... NO! LIES! They all hate you, and track you with RFID tricksies.... the beer is our friend, though, the TV told me so. Lies! Lies with boobies! Nobody likes you! Beer likes me beer was always lyinggg to you. Yess, tricksie. So they can track your beer supply and get you when you're... No! be quiet! Gahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! *sob*

  • Not in the UK (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MattBurke ( 58682 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:24AM (#6548876)
    Not sure if this is just a Banks' (Midlands-based brewery) thing or if it's law, but staff in Banks' pubs are trained to give you a fresh glass each time, never refill on health&safety grounds.
  • An INTENTIONAL dupe. I'm impressed.
    "This hit the news over a year ago, but we didn't have the technical details. "
  • They had something like this to insert into the potential drunks teeth to signal a computer to call them a cab.

  • RFID (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Pompatus ( 642396 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:28AM (#6548894) Journal
    I'd be willing to bet you would have to wait just as long for a refil, since your waiter is most likely responsible for more than just your empty beer glass. The wait time is not due to not noticing, it is due to being in a queue.

    A friend of mine is a bartender. It takes me forever to get a refill if his bar is busy, because he knows I'm not going to get mad at him if I have to wait an extra five minutes to get a drink. (and of course, I will be understanding of the extra wait time because an entire evening of drinking costs me $20 with an included $12 tip)

  • This is cool (Score:3, Funny)

    by Molina the Bofh ( 99621 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:29AM (#6548898) Homepage
    So they can still serve you even if you're too drunk to be capable of asking for another drink.

  • Remember to pay in cash (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Ignis Flatus ( 689403 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:41AM (#6548934)
    This is just one more piece of evidence to subpeona against you at your DUI trial.

  • In related news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by nfras ( 313241 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:43AM (#6548942)
    It has been announced that after signalling for the 4th drink it will also notify your partner to go into "sulk mode" and make up the bed in the spare room.
    • It has been announced that after signalling for the 4th drink it will also notify your partner to go into "sulk mode" and make up the bed in the spare room
      You americans can't drink

  • 30% Empty (Score:5, Funny)

    by femto ( 459605 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:45AM (#6548946) Homepage
    Presumably these glasses will indicate empty even though they ar 30% full [theregister.co.uk], the glass will self destruct if you take too long to drink your beer [slashdot.org] and you will not be able to fill the glas with homebrew beer [slashdot.org]? When they do refill it, maybe you only get half a glass [slashdot.org] of beer?

    (Betcha students can't sneak them out of the pub either.)

    • Re:30% Empty (Score:5, Funny)

      by Chuck Chunder ( 21021 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:27AM (#6549047) Journal
      Betcha students can't sneak them out of the pub either
      I think you are vastly underestimating the thieving abilities of drunk students. They could be chained to a 200 kilo block of concrete and still go missing.

      In fact, you'd probably lose more because it would be seen as a challenge.

      • Re:30% Empty (Score:4, Funny)

        by Triv ( 181010 ) * on Monday July 28, 2003 @05:07AM (#6549266) Journal
        amen to that. Friends of mine at college came home one night with a HUGE glass-topped dinner table. The glass was easily 3/4" thick and must've weighed 40 pounds, let alone the base. The amazing thing is they managed to steal if off of someone's PORCH.

        No, I take that back; the amazing thing was that none of them knew where it had come from when they woke up the following afternoon.

        Triv

  • Opacity? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by gratefully dead ( 638634 )
    yeah, yeah, RTFS but...

    I'm guessing that this thing works from detecting a change in the intensity of the light reflected back to indicate an empty glass.

    However, I wonder if it would have to be adjusted for Guiness vs. Keystone Light (or Pearl Light if you know what that is [w00t! 68 calories]).

    By the way, the only reason I drink cheap beer is because I'm poor, not because I have bad taste. (Well, that and the fact that you can drink a lot more at once).

  • Beer nuts (Score:4, Funny)

    by ratfynk ( 456467 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @02:54AM (#6548968) Journal
    Now if they could just do the same thing with beer nuts, pretzles, and chicken wings that would be usefull.

    For a real beer drinkers heaven go to Stinkies a 24/7 pub, attach catheter, give waitress credit card, and begin bindge. Taxi or Paramedics will be called when beer glass is full without being drunk from for more than 2 hours.

  • A technical question (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Saoi ( 535612 )
    Ok, we are talking very low power here and everyone has seen the effect mobile phones can have on transmitter/reciever circuits. I havn't bothered to think about it too much (/me lazy :) but having someones phone on the table would have to play havoc with the SNR (signal to noise ratio) of the system? Any thoughts?
  • If I want a different drink? Can it send that. Now what would be cool if there was a touch screen I could order at. Of course if drunk all this technology becomes a bit pointless as I would be shouting at the wall anyway

    Rgds

    Rus

  • finally! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by joebeone ( 620917 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:17AM (#6549023) Homepage
    finally RFIDs are being used for something decent... keeping my beer full!

  • Low tech solution (Score:5, Informative)

    by Matthias Wiesmann ( 221411 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:27AM (#6549048) Homepage Journal
    I like high tech stuff, but sometimes, there is a simple low-tech solution that is simpler, cheaper and often more robust.

    Do you know that there is a low tech solution that is in use for years? In germany beer mugs have a lid. If the lid is open, the waiter knows you want a refill, if not you don't want a refill...

    This solution is also wireless...

    • here's another low tech solution:

      "OK, my round. What's everyone having?"

    • Like the RFID, that only solves the minor problem - making sure the waitstaff notice that your beer is empty.

      The second problem is having them care, which as you point out, is better solved with low-tech. If the waitstaff doesn't know you (e.g. hopefully just doesn't realize you tip well), it's usually better to pay in cash and tip for each round. At least in the US, a lot of people who run a tab on a card suck at calculating proper tips, and usually skimp.

      I've never had a hard time getting timely drink

  • If your pub is so bad that it needs such a device, change pubs.

  • The real use of technology (Score:3, Funny)

    by euxneks ( 516538 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:40AM (#6549077)
    It's good to see that technology is getting back to it's roots and is finally being used for something useful.

    /sarcasm
  • Uh... Big barkeeper is watching you? ;-)

    (Sorry, it's early and I haven't had my fill of caffeine yet.)

  • beer tube (Score:2, Funny)

    by tobes ( 302057 ) *
    They should just have a tube with a real time blood test that feeds you beer until your BAC reaches the desired level.

  • At 50% (Score:5, Funny)

    by neglige ( 641101 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @03:46AM (#6549097)
    ...will the glass report itself to be half empty or half full??

  • Best idea since... (Score:4, Funny)

    by flokemon ( 578389 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:01AM (#6549121) Homepage
    ...the coffee pot computer.

    Now what if those 2 could be combined? Hmmmm...

  • http://www.merl.com/projects/images/iGlassware.jpg (Score:3, Informative)

    by antdude ( 79039 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:03AM (#6549125) Homepage Journal
    Geez, this image is 1500x1575 (550 KB) on http://www.merl.com/projects/iGlassware/ ... I feel bad for slow connection users. :)

  • Bender! (Score:3, Funny)

    by davejenkins ( 99111 ) <slashdot@da[ ]enkins.com ['vej' in gap]> on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:21AM (#6549158) Homepage
    Drinking and electronics can only lead to one thing: metal-bending suicidal sarcastic kleptomaniacal robots.

    Bite my shiny metal daffodil.

  • Privacy Implications (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cyberllama ( 113628 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:25AM (#6549168)
    So wait? Anyone with the abillity to log RFID signals, and correspond each glasses unique id to the drinker, can then tell how much beer I've had to drink? No sir, I do not like it! The privacy implications are dire.
  • What if future generations of the glass rely on implants in the beer. Propriatary implants. Open source (i.e. you know the recipie and can make it yourself) beer will no-longer be compatable and will be illegal under The Digital Millenium Drunkenness Act (DMDA). Beer could be the next DVD! Implanted beer and "clever" beer glasses must be stopped!

  • Favorite quote (Score:3, Funny)

    by LauraW ( 662560 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @04:58AM (#6549250)
    from the linked paper:
    There are a number potential problems with a directly contacting design. First, the electrode must be able to with- stand immersion in various, corrosive beverages....
    Waiter? I'd like what they're having!

    Laura

  • Yeah, nothing new under the sun. Olde Englishe beer mugs sometimes used to have little metal bells backed into the handle... when a thirsty punter wanted a refill, they would lift their mug and thumb the bell. Hence the expression.

  • Refill Buttons (Score:3, Interesting)

    by FluffyG ( 692458 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @07:47AM (#6549594)
    Instead of having a sensor on/in the glass to determine if its going empty or not,, why not make a high tech table that has a spot or a button to place the drink when you want a refill so they know instead of rushing one to you when you finish. This would give the consumer the option to get a drink instead of having one after another till they are blitzed because some consumers (along with me) have the "if I buy it then I might as well drink it" mentality.

    I am sure that this approach would be more cost effective then buying 200 of these glasses at $100 a pop.

  • And for those of us.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by buckeyeguy ( 525140 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @08:20AM (#6549722) Homepage Journal
    who drink our beers straight out of the bottle, what do we get, aside from the enjoyment of watching a tipsy barmate look at his glass and mutter "this thing's broken" when the servers ignore him...

  • Not my BEER (Score:3, Funny)

    by msheppard ( 150231 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @09:09AM (#6549974) Homepage Journal
    Thanks everyone, you just slashdotted my BEER.

    For the love of God, is NOTHING sacred?

    M@

  • Thank you Larry Niven (Score:3, Interesting)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) * on Monday July 28, 2003 @09:14AM (#6549995) Homepage Journal
    In one of Larry Niven's "Known Space" stories, our hero is drinking at a party thrown by Elephant, the decendant of the inventor of teleportation. The glasses have a small teleportation receiver in them, and constantly maintain their level of fluid.

    Our hero remarks that this is a great way to become an alchoholic without realizing it.

  • The jealous wife sits outside the bar ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by JoeGee ( 85189 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @01:55PM (#6552382)
    ... monitoring hubby's beer glass. At glass seven he gets a call on his cell phone. "Harcourt? Harcourt Fenton Mudd, you're drinking again!? This is your seventh glass of beer! You KNOW how you get when you've had too much to drink!" And of course the prosecutor, may it please the court, can provide records showing exactly the number of drinks H. Mudd had to drink when he's brought up for public intoxiation charges.

  • WAIT just one lousy foam-topped minute!!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by KC7GR ( 473279 ) on Monday July 28, 2003 @10:29PM (#6555887) Homepage Journal
    And what happened to that poor beer glass's right to privacy? What business is it of the bar computer if it's half empty or half full?

    Heck, if the computer is programmed for basic Zen, that could cause some interesting conniptions once the fluid level reached the halfway point ("Your system is contemplating its WHAT?!")

    This could also lead into another option. Include a counter in the PIC chip that, once the consumer reaches a given number of beers, triggers a voice synthesizer to ask for their car keys if they want another refill.

    I think I'll go take my meds now... ;-)

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