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from the now-they-know-what-you-eat-too dept.
At Quince, San Francisco's highly regarded and Michelin triple-starred restaurant, $220 buys you a stunning fixed-price supper including caviar, cold-water lobster, venison and "A Dog in Search of Gold."
The latter dish, crispy white truffle croquettes, is served atop an iPad. The screen runs video of a dog hunting for truffles in a forest.
"Living in San Francisco for over 20 years, I have witnessed the tech boom and I wanted to combine a little bit of gastronomy with technology and a little bit of education," said Quince chef Michael Tusk. "The idea was simply about taking the guest on a voyage to being out truffle hunting and then having a moment when the truffle is dug from the ground."
[...] The food sits on a screen atop the iPad, and the screen is sterilized after every use, he said. "The food does not directly sit on top of the iPad," he said.
The protective screen allows them to hand out silverware instead of plastic forks.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Monday January 02 2017, @04:53AM
Give the non-chef layman a color e-ink plate/platter to scrape their slop off before shoveling it into their mouth. What image or video will cause the best-tasting food? Are there imagery-food pairings?
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(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 02 2017, @06:08AM
Bleedin' Outback Steakhouse, with tasteful video of a slaughterhouse in operation? Pictures of sausages or laws being made? Vegan plot!
(Score: 1) by cheshire on Monday January 02 2017, @12:55PM
Bleedin' Outback Steakhouse, with tasteful video of a slaughterhouse in operation? Pictures of sausages or laws being made? Vegan plot!
If the plates have a network connection that could be a popular form of vandalism. "Hack all the plates and show them the truth!"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Monday January 02 2017, @01:51PM
Aside from the food industry stuff, think of how many values of "the truth" exist for fun propaganda purposes.
Including truths such as "the picture on the mcdonalds food trays today is whatever was the top post on /b/ this morning when anon drove by"
(Score: 2, Informative) by cheshire on Monday January 02 2017, @12:51PM
Food photography [digital-photography-school.com] is big for a lot of people and I think color contrast [designlovr.com] plays an important role. In that second link consider the picture of simple 'fruit loops', a fairly generic processed cereal that has a more distinctive look because of the different colors. Berries are often a different color from the surrounding foliage in nature so having something that draws attention to them may help or hurt depending on what is done -- it would be interesting to find out if actively changing colors improves the experience or make it worse.
The video Quince is using isn't bad (the cheap looking stuff on the plate is another matter) since dogs and nature have a positive association for many people so relating that back to food in a non-confrontational way is effective. A lot of people do watch 'food' shows on television, maybe a recorded video of their given dish being prepared would be positive for them too?
Food symbolism [bbc.co.uk] is important in many cultures, so video or slides of an event associated with food may be effective.
A potentially amusing application may be the use of weight sensors - as the platter has stuff removed from it, it changes color or moves to a different display. If it starts out a steady green and changes to a flashing red as the food is gone, that might be used as a reminder to servers to check on a table, or it might be a way of discouraging people from eating too much in the first place. If the plate acts 'angry' at you for eating that may well change the experience.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Monday January 02 2017, @01:46PM
What image or video will cause the best-tasting food?
That was a minor plot line of an 80s or 90s "revenge of the nerds" sequel (or similar) where the answer to your question is claimed to be voyeuristic shower camera photos of hot college age women. If it helps anyone identify the movie I think they used printouts of the photos and covered them with graham cracker crust and whipped cream. Surprisingly other than underage drinking and noise violations it was one of the few criminal acts in the movie, which surprised me at the time.
On TV there is/was a "big brother" TV show and at least in the American filmed series in the early years (00s) there was a running gag or tradition that the women on the show would at least once per season get drunk then dress up in bikinis or outfits made entirely of lettuce and/or whipped cream.
In general food seems enhanced by hot naked 25 year old women. I'm kinda surprised waitresses and bartenderesses and baristas wear any clothing at all, don't want to get in the way of those liberal arts degree student loans getting paid off...
There is a hidden assumption in the comments that this general technology will be used to enhance food experience. If cheap e-ink plates were available I suspect cafeterias would program their human server-bots that if they see a blue square then use the blue square handle serving spoon to apply slop #1 vs if they see a red circle on the plate they use the round red serving spoon to apply slop #2 to the plate. The plates are programmed by the ordering kiosk which also sells the nutritional data to the purchaser's medical insurance company or for an extra fee keeps it secret. I suspect the plates would be programmed to display images of varying levels of acceptability to the victims ranging from "jesus saves" at the church soup kitchen to some commentary about michelle obama and school lunches at school lunchrooms to outright advertising for mortgage loans and car insurance at generic restaurants.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday January 02 2017, @04:29PM
In general food seems enhanced by hot naked 25 year old women. I'm kinda surprised waitresses and bartenderesses and baristas wear any clothing at all
I know you're (probably) somewhat joking, but it should be noted that clothing (like makeup) is about enhancing and covering up flaws. It's also frequently about "teasing." If women walked around bare-breasted in Western society on a regular basis, breasts would probably be a lot less fetishized than they are. Instead, you invent clothing that shows "cleavage" with plunging necklines, and it makes people around just want to see more.
While men's tastes may vary from person to person, there are probably only a tiny percentage of women whose nude uncovered bodies would be considered "perfect" by a given man. But clothing strategically can emphasize assets while covering up flaws (and holding all the "bits" in the right place), making a given person much more appealing to a wide variety of people. This isn't just true for women -- the traditional "formal" look for men in suits or evening wear tends to cover up unsightly hairy limbs and chests while having jackets that drape over and around a "beer belly" (the traditional cummerbund or vest serves as an additional layer to disguise these and hold them in place under the draping jacket), meanwhile expanding shoulders a bit to make one look more "buff." Old-style formal jackets with tails also could cover up extra weight on the butt or hips, or drape around it in a more flattering fashion.
Clothing is as much about concealing flaws (even minor ones) as it is about modesty when it comes to making someone look attractive.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday January 02 2017, @03:55PM
In Germany Scheisse videos would make any food appetizing.
I could start up a restaurant specializing in pork, served on iPads showing Scheisse videos.
The eatery could be called "Scheisse und Schewin."
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Monday January 02 2017, @10:00PM
Imagine being just about to take a bite and someone sends an image of goatse man or tubgirl to your "plate". No, forget that, don't imagine it unless you are trying to lose weight.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday January 02 2017, @10:42PM
So, the majority of Americans?
Maybe it's time to print some e-plates.
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