OFF: Smart Glass Knows When It Needs Another Beer

[Karen Kusic]

Smart Glass Knows When It Needs Another Beer
Thu Apr 4, 8:54 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Drink up that beer -- another will soon be whisked to
the table thanks to a hi-tech pint glass that
tells bar staff when it needs refilling.

Developed by a Japanese electronics company, the intelligent glass is
fitted with a radio-frequency coil in its base and emits
a signal to a receiver set in the table when it's empty, New Scientist
magazine reported Thursday.

The iGlassware system works by coating each glass with a clear,
conducting material, enabling it to measure exactly how
much liquid has been sipped or guzzled.

When empty, the glass sends an electronic cry for more beer from the
table to waiters equipped with hand-held computers
on frequencies similar to those used by mobile phones.

A team from the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories working in
Cambridge, Massachusetts has made the first
prototypes, but may find it hard to sell the idea to Britons.

"It sounds like a fun idea, but I don't think it would work in our
pubs," said a spokesman for J.D. Wetherspoon, which runs
over 500 pubs in Britain.

"The tradition in Britain is to get up and go to the bar for a round of
drinks, not to have a waiter bring beers to the table, no
matter how quickly," he said.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=4&u=/nm/20020404/od_nm/glass_dc_1