Items by Jose Fermoso
Wired: Top Stories
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Yankee Stadium's HDTV Is Bigger Than Yours &emdash; Way Bigger
Posted: March 25th, 2009, 6:01am EDT by Jose Fermoso
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With nearly 6,000 square feet, the gigantic, 1080P-capable display in the new Yankee Stadium may be the largest high-definition TV ever. -
Pint-Sized Pico Projector Parties in Our Pants
Posted: January 30th, 2009, 3:45pm EST by Jose Fermoso
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The Optoma's Pico projector is so small and shiny it looks good enough to eat. That may be true but a closer look at its capabilities make the tiny titan a bit hard to swallow. -
3-D-Ready HDTV Uses Laser Light to Double Color Range, Save Energy
Posted: December 24th, 2008, 12:00am EST by Jose Fermoso
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Mitsubishi taps laser tech to give you a vivid picture in this rear-projection set. The lasers in the 3-D ready TV use 33 percent less energy than a similar size LCD, and the company says they'll never need replacing.
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Smart Plug Could Save You $150 in Electricity
Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 3:38am EST by Jose Fermoso
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A new "smart plug" from Innergie cuts off power to gadgets like cellphones and cameras after they're done charging — potentially saving you $50 to $150 in electricity charges every year.
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Logitech Makes One-Billionth Mouse (And Counting)
Posted: December 4th, 2008, 12:00am EST by Jose Fermoso
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At the dawn of the new era of user interfaces that is bound to end the reign of the mighty computer mouse, Logitech is celebrating the production of its one billionth device. Founded in 1981 in Switzerland, Logitech introduced its first mouse for retail four years later in 1985. It took the company 11 years to reach 100 million against heavy competition and almost just as long to multiply tenfold.
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Video: Google Phone's OS Has Serious Chops
Posted: October 16th, 2008, 3:04pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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Joe Brown and Daniel Dumas of Wired's product reviews team sit and wax elegant about the oft-touted, relentlessly hyped, finally realized Google G1 with Android. Our main findings? Great OS — remarkable for version 1.0 — but still in need of some better hardware.
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Robot Hands Get a Grip on the Future
Posted: September 19th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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: Image courtesy VintagecomputerConsidered to be the first working robot hand, the Handyman, developed in 1960 by General Electric's Ralph Mosher, was a two-fingered, heavily jointed claw that set up the foundation for later hands.
The design looks rudimentary now, but the five-pivot segment design in each finger was innovative in its attempt to replicate the human hand's flexible joint structure. A human hand is made up of a set of rigid links (bones and muscles) connected at joints. Each joint can have one degree of freedom (hinging or sliding) or two (rotating or cylindrical). We have four degrees of freedom in each finger, giving us enormous flexibility and the ability to make complex motions.
The Handyman's fingers had three degrees of freedom. But it was the attached mechanical forearm that provided most of the wrist action, as mechanical "tendons" pushed and pulled on the fingers. A technician had to manipulate the hand by placing his arm inside the apparatus like a puppet.
The Handyman's capabilities were limited: It could pinch and hold, but had no sensitivity to what it was holding, limiting it to clawing indiscriminately at things.
: Image courtesy University of RochesterBuilt to study the reaction times of robot muscles, the Utah/MIT hand, built in the early 1980s, is a tendon-based (forearm) system. Electric signals are sent to the knuckles through a complicated cable setup, where one tendon moves each joint, as opposed to the dueling and matching motors of earlier models.
The tendon system was precise because air cylinders allowed knuckle sensors to monitor the angle of the fingers, as well as the tension in the wrists. In addition, the tendons were strong and made the fingers move much faster than previous versions -- the seven pounds of force exerted at the fingertip was the strongest at the time.
But that power sacrificed control and range of the whole hand. If you wanted to move it with any regularity, you had to set up a complicated plan to move the 288 pulleys.
: Designed in the early 1990s by Mark Rosheim, the Omni-Hand is dexterous, rugged and hand-powered by an electric gearbox in the palm. It also was the most life-like and reliable hand that NASA made in the '90s. The space agency's researchers even put a glove on it.
Like the human hand, closing and opening the fingers together laterally (as if you're making Spock's 'V' sign, also known as adduction and abduction) was made possible by a ball-and-socket joint design. This design was also used in the wrist, which enabled pitch (at 110 degrees) and yaw motions (at 70 degrees). Also, each knuckle had built-in stops that limited backwards movements, or hyperextension, just like human fingers.
By using the palm's gear box for sensor placement, tendons became unnecessary and led Rosheim to use stronger hinge materials, like double bearings supporting stronger motor shafts, and he placed flexible sensor wires near the fingers. Finally, every finger was the same as any other, so they could be easily replaced one at a time.
: Photo: Courtesy Gabriel GomezBy 2007, scientists had developed the technology of robot hands to such a degree that they could attach a robot hand to a human forearm. Much of recent research has been split between developing hand dexterity and bridging the connection between flesh and machine.
The robotic hand created by the University of Tokyo's Hiroshi Yokoi is such an arm, and it is tendon-based, similar to the Utah arm. But this time, the tendons don't drive the movements. Instead, the wire currents inside the tendons do the job.
The Zurich/Tokyo hand has 13 degrees of freedom, and each finger is laced with powerful sensors that give it specific joint commands, enabling it, for instance, to simultaneously set a 75-degree angle for one finger and set a specific pressure for another. When the hand was finally attached as a prosthetic device, electromyography signals were used to "interface the robot hand non-invasively" to a male patient. To mimic the tactile feedback of a real hand, scientists sent electrical stimulation through the wires to the test subject's own (organic) sensor and motor system.
: Photo: Glenn MatsumuraThe BH8 BarretHand, built in 2007, is a three-fingered programmable "grasper" known for its great flexibility. Two of the multijointed fingers rotate around the palm (at 180 degrees), and switch positions easily, giving the hand two opposable thumbs.
The hand has its own processor and is controlled by a PC through a serial port. It's also completely self-contained and quite durable, which means scientists no longer have to worry about the force of the tendons or the grippiness of the fingers. It also comes with a clutch mechanism that determines the strength of the grasp.
Robotics experts at Stanford are currently using the BH8 for their Stair 2.0 autonomous robot project, fetching everything from wine glasses to toothbrushes through speech-recognition techniques.
: Image courtesy TouchbionicsThis $65,000 prosthetic robot hand has supersmall motors and five fully articulated digits powered by a two-input myoelectric signal. Doctors place electrodes on the surface of the hand's "skin," which connects to the electrical signal generated by muscles in the remaining portion of a patient's limb.
The i-Limb enables different grips that had not been available to amputees before, such as the key grip (thumb to index finger), and power, precision and index grips (the "we're #1' grip.")
But its realistic dexterity isn't the only good thing about it. Fingers can be easily swapped out with one another, which makes servicing a little bit easier and less expensive.
: Image courtesy SensopacCreated by the EU-funded SENSOPAC group in 2005, the "Robo Habilis" is managed by a software program modeled on the human cerebellum. Now we're really getting somewhere.
An advanced software program coordinates sensations and movements picked up by the hand, getting us a bit closer to intelligent, self-aware robot arms. The SENSOPAC is also covered by sensitive skin made out of a thin, flexible carbon-based material whose resistance changes with pressure. This allows hundreds of tiny sensors to be used as the hand's main information conduits, providing more detailed information on a touch or grip than ever before.
In addition, the attached arm has 58 motors (in opposing pairs) that it uses to create a large range of force. The fingers have 38 opposing motors, allowing it to snap its fingers and even pick up an egg without breaking it.
: Kamen created the Segway, an invention so far ahead of the game that it makes its users look, well, rather dorky. Not so with his robot arm.
Kamen's arm is light-years ahead of the clamping "claws" amputees are used to. It's a fully articulated appendage, with flexible joints and detailed user manipulation called "Gen X - Separate Exo Control." It gives the user the same range of motion (14 degrees of freedom) as a natural arm, and is sensitive enough to pick up a piece of paper, a wineglass or even an olive in a martini.
: The Anatomically Correct Testbed (ACT) hand is all about the accuracy of the human hand's bone/muscle/nerve structure. Yoky Matsuoka, director of the Neurobotics Lab at the University of Washington, designed the autonomous ACT hand to respond to sensors that mirror the brain's neural commands. To do so, she created neuromusculoskeletal copies of the arm's anatomy, including tendon insertion points, specific bone shapes and weight, and supersmall motors that duplicate muscle contraction behaviors. As a result, it is the most human-looking and -moving arm out there.
Like the Handyman and the Utah/MIT hand, the ACT is based on cable "tendons," but those tendons are arranged and attached in a much more human-like manner, giving it a full range of motion.
There's also an uncommon focus on the palm, which is about as important to the human hand's multifaceted nature as its fingers.
: Image courtesy ElumotionThe Sheffield Hand, built in 2002, focuses on the development of "artificial muscle" and sophisticated joints. Powered by telescopic rods throughout the palm of the hand, fingers are pulled and bent in a rotating motion. But it's the detailed phalanges that make it one the most flexible hands and arms, through simple cylindrical disks that produce realistic abduction and adduction.
The hand includes haptic sensors and its hard plastic muscles mimic the flexibility of real human arms. In the process of testing, the scientists conducted arm-wrestling contests between a human and three different versions of the arm.
The Sheffield was also used by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories as a early prototype for the Discovery space mission's 50-foot arm.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comYes, this hand looks like it's about ready to start sewing up your undies. But it's actually a very sophisticated Intel project that smartly senses the shape of objects through the magic of electrolocation, used by sharks and other marine animals to detect objects and prey via faint electric fields.
Called the "Shark Hand" or "The Sixth Sense" because of these sonar-like powers of perception, the tips of its fingers emit an "electrical impulse" that detects objects and gives the hand an sense of the shape of objects it is about to grasp.
The hand is part of a larger Intel project on "Pre Touch" technologies, where robots are being laced with internal sensors that are more long-range than the sense of touch, but more short-range than vision.
Check out the video of Wired Science's Alexis Madrigal and Intel researchers playing with the Intel shark hand.
: Image courtesy Shadow RobotThe Shadow Hand has integrated sensors all over its palm and fingers, and can be controlled by different computer systems, which is why several university robotics programs and private contractors are using it. It even has a network option, which means you can torture your coworkers with crazy hand gestures even when you're taking a sick day.
But it is special because it's got more moves than a Moonwalker-era Michael Jackson. Its integrated bank of 40 "Air Muscles" allow it to perform 24 different, large-angle moves, and the fingertips are so sensitive that they can even detect a quarter on the floor. Not only that, but the muscles are soft and acquiescent, which allows it to play with soft and fragile objects.
: Despite almost 50 years of development, these hands are only the beginning. Like notebook computers and MP3 players before them, robot hands will get tinier and ever more complex.
Intuitive Surgical's EndoWrist Instruments are small surgical tools, with 5 mm- and 8 mm-diameter options. With seven degrees of freedom and 90 degrees of articulation, they are the most precise robotic appendages in the medical world. They are widely used by surgeons because they improve the surgeons' own world-renowned dexterity and allows them to perform minimally invasive surgery through teeny incisions.
A doctor manipulates the hand through fingertip controls from a few feet away from the patient, looking into a micro lens. It's hard to believe, but the Endowrist is also strong, and it can handle a variety of forceps, needle drivers, scalpels and any other things needed to cut up a person carefully and safely.
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Unofficial TMobile Blog Reports First Android Phone Out Next Month
Posted: August 15th, 2008, 7:25am EDT by Jose Fermoso
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According to an unofficial T-Mobile blog, the first version of the multimedia Google Phone will be released by HTC starting on September 17 for one week, for T-Mobile customers only. This offer will be immediately followed by a general release a week later.
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Gallery: Gadgets Boost Olympic Performance -- Legally
Posted: August 9th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Jose Fermoso
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: Photo: Associated Press/Kathy WillensTechnology has helped push the boundaries of athletic achievement since the first time a caveman selected a lightweight birch branch for his spear instead of the usual heavy oaken staff. This year's Olympic Games will be no different, with swimmers, cyclists and even gymnasts making the most of tech -- and legal -- performance enhancements.
While many of the items on this list will be limited to Olympic athletes only, many others will be available for purchase by anyone, even if you don't have the cutting-edge training of Dara Torres. Just as NASA's space program led to Tang and other wonders, the innovations created for these Olympics may eventually end up somewhere in your house.
Left: Humans are too flawed for perfect swimming (not even Michael Phelps could beat a Great White in a sprint), but Speedo's LZR suit is the closest we'll get to swimming like the fishes.
Designed in conjunction with NASA scientists, the suit uses ultrasonically bonded seams (instead of stitches), low-drag panels and a mix of polyurethane layers to create the fastest suit ever, reaching previously unattainable levels of buoyancy and slipperiness.
But according to the top U.S. swimmers, the key lies in the groin. It has a rigid, girdle-style structure that positions the swimmer's body in an optimal position. That means no more hip/leg misalignments and less lower-body fatigue. It's estimated to give its wearers a two to five percent advantage, more than enough to make the difference between a bronze medal and a gold one.
Rival suit companies protested the LZR's innovations, but they couldn't come up with an adequate replacement. Even Nike is allowing its sponsored swimmers to wear it in Beijing.
: Photo: Lee VaccaroJennie Longo is the French equivalent of Lance Armstrong -- and at 49 years old, she is still smoking the competition. Now she has two new aces in the hole: the ultra-light 8-spoke wheel (the previous lowest number of spokes was 10) and a disc wheel called the Disc Cranked Arrow.
Designed by Paul Lew Racing for ultimate flight, the 8-spoke wheel is not the most durable of wheels. It’s only designed to last the length of the course, just like Michael Johnson’s famous Nikes in the 1996 Games.
The Disc Cranked Arrow features a rim with carbon/boron fairing, and it is the world's most aerodynamic bicycle wheel, as well as the lightest, at 730 grams.
: Photo: ResproSmog levels are rising in Beijing, but athletes won’t let that stand in their way. Many are planning on using air-filtering masks throughout their stay, and some are expected to use them in the events themselves.
One of the masks we'll see is the Respro Sportsta, which allows high volumes of clean air to move through the openings, and includes HEPA-type filtration (like that found in your vacuum cleaner) to strip out Beijing air's high levels of particulates, including exhaust emissions. It also comes with Powa valves (for improved airflow).
Undoubtedly, though, the best thing about it is that it will make everyone look like Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat. Fight!
: Photo: HypoxicoHypoxic tents like Altitude Training's CAT-150 push low-oxygen (hypoxic) air into the tent while an athlete rests, displacing more oxygen-rich air as well as the CO2 he or she exhales. In so doing, it stimulates the athlete's body to increase red blood cell production and pump up the delivery of oxygen to muscles.
Some have compared the feeling of running after a hypoxic session to being unleashed physically, like a controlled human helium balloon. Although they’ve been used in previous Olympics, the poor air quality of the city will likely inspire many more athletes to use these tents.
Some consider hypoxic tents to be a form of doping, primarily because not every athlete has access to them. But until the IOC disallows them -- an unlikely eventuality -- we'll continue to see athletes legally improve their blood cell counts by spending time inside tents like this one. During these Olympics, expect top cyclists David Zabriske, Mike Friedman and Kashi Leuchs to use the CAT-150 between their races.
: Photo: NikeNike's MaxSight contact lenses filter out reflections caused by the sun and enhance contrast -- details appear a bit clearer and colors pop more. Their red tint relaxes the eyes and lets them focus for longer periods of time.
The British women's field hockey team is expected to wear the lenses in order to see the field better. Because this tint is especially made for fast-moving sports with variable light conditions, the field hockey players will also pick up the rotation of a ball with greater accuracy.
Also, the intimidating look that a pair of demonic pupils has on the opposition is hard to overlook.
Sadly for non-Olympians, the manufacturers recently discontinued these lenses.
: Photo: Edis JurcysIt's gotta be the shoes. Or at least that’s what Nike and Adidas want you to believe. Still, the tech used in these kicks is serious business.
Nike’s 3.19-ounce Flywire Zoom Victory Spikes use a lightweight thread called Vectran, a substance used in the balloons that helped the Lunar Rover land safely. This thread, which is tougher than Kevlar, allowed the designers to design the whole shoe without the extra padding normally needed to keep it from breaking down in a run. Since the tough Vectran ensured reliable durability all by itself, Nike removed materials that were used previously to prevent ruptures, like the inner sock liner, enabling them to make the shoe lighter.
The Flywire also sports a hole in the heel, which grips the runner's heel tightly, preventing movement.
The Adidas Lone Stars are also as light as a breeze, but with a twist: They're "bent" at an angle to take care of the long-sprint curves of the 400-meter event. The shoes, designed with input from runner Jeremy Wariner, are the first to be made with asymmetrical carbon nanotube plates and progressive-compression spikes. They're asymmetrical because in a sprint around a circular track, the left foot is used more to stabilize the body, and the right is used more for propulsion.
The carbon nanotube construction is key because it allowed Adidas to create a single-piece shoe, getting rid of the regular three-piece seams and leading to a lighter weight -- 50 percent lighter than any other shoe.
: Photo: NikeThese are not bulletproof vests, but if you're an athlete looking for the smallest edge, they might save your life.
As an athlete warms up to loosen the muscles, his or her core temperature also goes up. This leads to the possible danger of overheating, especially given the high temperatures expected in Beijing in August.
The answer: Lightweight vests that help keep athletes cool. They are so effective that doctors have used them for long surgery sessions, and U.S. marathoner Deena Kastor credits Nike's vest with keeping her cool in the '04 Games and helping her land a medal. Its principle is simple: Fill with water, freeze, then put it on. The new Precool vest not only improves on the 2004 model by covering a larger surface area, it also has a flexible aluminum coating that deflects the sun's rays.
The Game Ready Active Cooling Vest works a little differently, but cools down the body just the same. After it's filled with water, a cooling unit is connected into the vest, which regulates the pressure level, temperature and treatment time settings of the vest. It combines this cold water circulation with low-level compression for a specific temperature fit.
: Photo: MizunoBat innovations are nothing new, but it seems that they're always on the verge of causing a controversy. Maple bats were the recent rage in the Major Leagues, but their thin handles caused them to break easily and fly dangerously into the stands. The Mizuno softball bat is not causing a controversy yet, but it has reached a new standard of lightness that's destined to hurt the opposition.
The Black Onyx carbon fiber RB500 has a larger-than-usual sweet spot that dominates the barrel (very nice), but it's the redesigned coiled end cap that makes it special. It allows for a lighter weight without sacrificing control and balance, helping a batter swing harder and make better last minute wrist-snapping adjustments on the ball.
Since this is expected to be the last year of softball competition in the Olympics, expect players using this bat to make an explosive statement on the field to try and bring their sport back by 2016.
: Photo: NikeDainty, yet aggressive. Minimalist, but full of technological innovations. The Nike Pidima gymnastic shoes are a contradiction in many ways, but by the end of the games, everyone will agree that that they're the next step in high-performance technology.
Why are we so high on this shoe? First consider the size. It's the smallest and lightest shoe ever at 0.35 ounces. When an athlete is sprinting into the horse (on the front part of the foot, Kerri Strug-style) that lightness will allow for better traction, faster speed and bigger jumps.
Then look at the thin aesthetic appearance and the grippy sole. The rubber is the color of flesh, so it won't stand out. That's more than a mere style point, because scoring in gymnastics is based on the way the foot is positioned relative to the body. Call attention to your foot, and you run the risk of the judges taking points away.
Also, the casing of the sole helps with pliability between the first and second metatarsals (where the foot impacts the floor), making it more comfortable than ever.
Finally, the spike patterns on the sole are multidirectional so that an athlete can switch the positions of the leg quickly while maintaining ground contact.
: Photo: NewgyThe Robo-Pong 2040 will play at any skill level you desire. It will play at any time you feel the need for a game. And while it cannot qualify for the Olympics, at least until organizers permit robotic contestants, it can be a valuable training partner.
This training robot is used by some of the top players to improve their games and technique, but it's also helpful for up-and-coming players. A few Chinese table tennis pros have been known to use the 2040 when they can't get to the famous Sun Park in Beijing.
Trainers can adjust the difficulty level and the speed of the ball, as well the amount of oscillation and spin that the robot puts on the ball. It even has a remote control so coaches can torture their players from afar.
: Photo: MikasaThe Mikasa's designers abandoned the standard 18-panel volleyball design in favor of eight panels arranged in a petal-like formation. When combined with the new double-layered construction (of polyurethane foam and a woven inner layer made of soft micro-fiber), this new design will give players improved control by limiting the amount of sweat that seeps into the ball from their palms. That's gross, yes, but useful.
The embossing process is also supposed to lower the amount of air disturbance around the ball for a more aerodynamic trajectory. This should lead to the hardest balls ever hit this summer, though the sound may be disappointing: A few players who tested the ball complained that the Mikasa doesn't have the same satisfying pop as a traditional volleyball.
: Photo: Courtesy InitionIn order to make perfect strokes during training, the U.S. crew team members watch their progress on a VR-style goggle set that receives a live feed of their movements as they row. With this feed, they are able to see instantly if their torsos are misaligned. By evaluating themselves in real time, the rowers learn to perfect their form. Once the race starts, however, they'll ditch the glasses.
Originally the invention of an Australian crew team, the instantaneous video analysis system is also used to build statistical databases. The next versions will wirelessly transmit rowers' previous performances straight into their sightlines, enabling them to virtually travel into the past and race against themselves.
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Toyota Announces Segway Killer: The Winglet Personal Transporter
Posted: August 2nd, 2008, 5:30pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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Toyota is about to begin testing a vertical, mechanized scooter intended to help people move about in public areas. The Winglet is the first gadget to duplicate the celebrated, and often mocked, navigation system of the Segway Transporter.
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The iPhone 3G Visualized Through Cloud Tag 'Wordles'
Posted: July 12th, 2008, 4:30pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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Everyone, it seems, has the iPhone 3G on the brain, but what are people really thinking, deep within the oblongata? To find out we use Jonathan Feinberg’s Wordle program to create some interesting Word Tag Clouds.
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Gadget Lab Video Productions Presents: The iPhone 3G Release
Posted: July 11th, 2008, 2:43pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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The iPhone 3G was released today. So Wired.com unleashed its crack video team to document the event at the downtown San Francisco Apple Store. Take a ride with Wired.com Senior Editor Dylan Tweney as he interviews the good, the bad and the slightly wacky patrons in line to buy the iPhone 3G on opening day.
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Gallery: A Century of Automated Food Service
Posted: June 9th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Jose Fermoso
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: Exactly 106 years ago, Frank Hardart and Joseph Horn opened the first Automat restaurant in the United States, at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia. It had no tables, no waiters and only a single counter with 15 stools. For the first time in American restaurant dining, customers served themselves. Although this idea was groundbreaking, the restaurant had two more killer features that would make it a success and help launch a fast-food nation: The meals were cheap, and it was quick.
Unlike fast-food restaurants today, the original Automat was an attractive and socially acceptable place to be and be seen. During the Depression, the Automat also became an attractive value proposition: A plate of beans or macaroni and cheese cost only a few nickels.
Click through the gallery to see images from the first Automats and their current emulators.
Left: In the first half of the 20th century, the Horn & Hardart Automat in Manhattan was a culinary landmark.
Photo: HO/AP/Courtesy Museum of the City of New York
: Photo: Berenice Abbot/HO/AP/Courtesy Museum of the City of New YorkRich, poor, young and old -- practically everyone in New York ate at Horn & Hardart Automats.
During its heyday, the Automat fulfilled some of the most fervent expectations about American efficiency and ingenuity -- if we could build high-quality Fords through an assembly line format, why couldn't we do the same for food?
: Customers would purchase a basic meal (such as sandwiches) through coin-operated machines. The windows hid a kitchen that would prepare food throughout the day. The novelty of inserting a few nickels, pulling the lever and sliding the clear window (usually sideways) to purchase a meal was an attraction in itself. Diners often found their food enveloped in cheap, waxy paper.
Photo: HO/AP/Courtesy Museum of the City of New York
: An early postcard shows an Automat at West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue in New York.
Photo: HO/AP/Courtesy Museum of the City of New York
: Photo: Warren Jorgensen/APA customer buys a cup of coffee at what was then the last Horn & Hardart Automat eatery in midtown Manhattan, in this AP file photo dated June 8, 1987. Now a fading memory, in its mid-century heyday Horn & Hardart Automat served up lamb stew and pie to millions of New Yorkers who dropped a coin into a slot and opened a small glass door to fetch their food.
: The first Automat in the United States opened at 818-820 Chestnut St., Philadelphia.
[This image is in the public domain.]
: Photo: Tina Fineberg/APThe classic automat format returned to New York City in 2006, with the opening of the Bamn food automat in the East Village. Owners David Leong and Nobu X have added a little bit of Asian style to the experience, with Japanese beef sliders, and hot-pink lights. Just drop a few coins into the slot and you can get a burger, a pizza or even tasty pork buns. Bamn is open 24 hours a day.
: Tina FinebergConvenience and supercheap prices are the biggest draw for Bamn. Most dishes run between $1.50 and $2.50, and according to most reviews (from the tough-to-please foodie crowd to regular Yankee-bleacher creatures), the food is surprisingly good. So how do they make sure the buns are constantly fresh and the slots always well stocked? A full, working, chef-led kitchen lies behind the wall of glass.
Photo: Tina Fineberg/AP
: Photo: Evert Elzinga/APThe original Automat was a Swedish invention manufactured in Germany. Today, FEBO automats in Amsterdam are known for their highly caloric McKroket burgers, which are thick ragout or gravy covered in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried. Then there's the spicy Satékroket beef with peanut sauce -- "It's delicious!" (That's the FEBO slogan.) Mmm.
: Baggers is a recently opened restaurant in Nuremberg, Germany, that serves its meals to customers through a winding steel rail system, getting rid of the need for waiters, or really, the need to talk to anyone while you eat.
So how do they do it? Through the wonderful magic of gravity, of course. After each meal is ordered on a touchscreen (where you can check your e-mail while you wait), the fully staffed kitchen on the second floor prepares the meal, covers it with a silver stainless plate cover and pushes it down along the rails, slowly careening it to your exact seat.
This technology not only looks cool, but saves the owners a lot on the man-hours of waiters waiting and people haggling over the tips.
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Top 10 April Fools' Pranks for Nerds
Posted: March 28th, 2008, 5:30pm EDT by Jose Fermoso
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Here's the top 10 tech-related tricks to pull on friends and co-workers on April Fools' Day.