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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.
(Agencies)
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如果無(wú)論你坐在酒吧的什么位置，當(dāng)你的酒杯快要見底的時(shí)候，不用你招呼，酒吧的服務(wù)生就會(huì)馬上過(guò)來(lái)為你斟酒，這個(gè)創(chuàng)意聽起來(lái)很不錯(cuò)吧？其實(shí)只要用一種高科技的啤酒杯就可以實(shí)現(xiàn)這一切了。
據(jù)周四的《新科學(xué)家》雜志報(bào)道，這種智能啤酒杯是由一家日本電子公司研制的。這種酒杯是將一枚可以發(fā)射無(wú)線電頻率的線圈置于杯子底部，這樣當(dāng)酒杯空了的時(shí)候線圈就會(huì)向吧臺(tái)的接收儀器發(fā)出信號(hào)。
這種智能酒杯的工作原理是給酒杯涂上一層光潔的傳導(dǎo)材料，這樣無(wú)論顧客是小啜還是狂飲，這套系統(tǒng)都可以測(cè)量出酒杯中還剩下多少酒。
當(dāng)酒杯空了的時(shí)候，它就會(huì)從顧客坐的桌子發(fā)出電子提示聲提醒服務(wù)生需要添酒了，而服務(wù)生手中則拿著可以接收頻率的掌中電腦，就和手機(jī)發(fā)出頻率的道理差不多。
一個(gè)在美國(guó)麻省劍橋工作的日本三菱電子實(shí)驗(yàn)室研究小組已經(jīng)成功制造出了第一個(gè)這樣的智能酒杯，不過(guò)要將這項(xiàng)發(fā)明賣給英國(guó)人卻沒(méi)有那么容易。
J.D. Wetherspoon是一家在英國(guó)已經(jīng)開設(shè)了500多家分店的酒吧，該酒吧的一位發(fā)言人說(shuō)："這的確是一個(gè)很有趣的主意，但是在我們的酒吧中并不實(shí)用。"
他說(shuō)："英國(guó)酒吧中的傳統(tǒng)是顧客自己起身走到吧臺(tái)，為每個(gè)朋友端去一杯酒，而不是叫服務(wù)生把酒送到他們的桌子上，即使服務(wù)生的動(dòng)作很迅速。"
(中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯)
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Updated: 2002-04-08 01:00
