Smart Glass Knows When It Needs Another Beer (2002)

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.

如果无论你坐在酒吧的什么位置，当你的酒杯快要见底的时候，不用你招呼，酒吧的服务生就会马上过来为你斟酒，这个创意听起来很不错吧？其实只要用一种高科技的啤酒杯就可以实现这一切了。

据周四的《新科学家》杂志报道，这种智能啤酒杯是由一家日本电子公司研制的。这种酒杯是将一枚可以发射无线电频率的线圈置于杯子底部，这样当酒杯空了的时候线圈就会向吧台的接收仪器发出信号。

这种智能酒杯的工作原理是给酒杯涂上一层光洁的传导材料，这样无论顾客是小啜还是狂饮，这套系统都可以测量出酒杯中还剩下多少酒。

当酒杯空了的时候，它就会从顾客坐的桌子发出电子提示声提醒服务生需要添酒了，而服务生手中则拿着可以接收频率的掌中电脑，就和手机发出频率的道理差不多。

一个在美国麻省剑桥工作的日本三菱电子实验室研究小组已经成功制造出了第一个这样的智能酒杯，不过要将这项发明卖给英国人却没有那么容易。

J.D. Wetherspoon是一家在英国已经开设了500多家分店的酒吧，该酒吧的一位发言人说："这的确是一个很有趣的主意，但是在我们的酒吧中并不实用。"

他说："英国酒吧中的传统是顾客自己起身走到吧台，为每个朋友端去一杯酒，而不是叫服务生把酒送到他们的桌子上，即使服务生的动作很迅速。"