By chance I had a layover in MSP (Minnesota / St. Paul) and my gate was right next to a new concept restaurant with iPads at every single table, apparently the work of
OTG Management (I have no relation to them - just happened by).
My initial thought was it's kind of cold. This restaurant is basically replacing the wait staff with iPads. We, as a society in this modern digital age, could use more human contact, not less. We're so attached to our devices, it's almost as if we are electronic devices ourselves.
I was going to sit and watch while I wait for my flight, but then the designer in me thought it might be better to go and check it out, find out how they've set it up and see what the interface is like. So I sat down looking at one of the beautiful food shots on rotation and got started with my electronic wait staff looking for the cheapest thing I can buy to justify sitting at a space and taking pictures as I go.
They rewired the iPad so you can't get to the standard controls. The Home button retrieves their special customized home screen and dock.
I tapped on "Your Flight" and it kindly asked me for info about my current flight in order to track its status for me. Gave me some info on the destination weather, etc as well. It wasn't "sticky" though, and as soon as I finished my order and was idle long enough for the slide show to kick in, it lost the flight info. It would have been nice for it to remember, or somehow have the user indicate when he/she is leaving the table (which would also help the wait staff know when to clear the table), before clearing the flight info. Since it cleared it for me, I don't know if it would have given me some kind of alarm when my boarding time was near. That would be a nice feature.
Then I proceeded to go browse the menu. Having great food photography is key in this case, since these photos are ultra high def on the iPad, and never looked this sharp in an actual printed menu.
The menu certainly looked appetizing, but the prices in this case were kind of high for my taste.
After you browse into a category the menu pop over gives you quick access to other categories, but strangely stays open after you make your selection. Maybe it's done on purpose to reduce the sticker shock since you can't see the prices when the menu is open.
After awhile I finally settled on some over-priced herbal tea since it's evening and it was more affordable than dessert. The system smartly does some cross selling as I proceed to check out.
You have to pay for your order before it gets submitted, which I understand. But gratuity is included in the payment, but I haven't interacted with any wait staff. How can I determine the level of service and how much tip to give? It's defaulted to 18% and there's no option to provide a custom value besides the 15, 18, and 20 that it gives you.
Then it steps you through paying using the card swipe stationed at each table. No cash accepted.
When the transaction is complete, it asks if you would like to receive an email of the receipt. No printed receipt seems to be available at the table. I was reluctant to provide my email since I don't know if it'll mean getting spam. They should put some kind of notice on the screen about that to reassure users, especially since you cannot opt out of getting the receipt via email. What if you don't have email?
A few minutes after all of this, my tea arrived. This was the first time I interacted with a wait staff (they have been walking around asking patrons if they needed any help in the mean time).
I was left wondering if it was worth 18% for the wait staff to bring me the tea and tell me to let it steep a few more minutes before enjoying it. Seems like a premium. The restaurants don't need as many people to work the tables, though yes, they had the up front cost of buying all those iPads. But over time it more than pays for all the staff they don't need to hire and schedule/coordinate work shifts.
The wait staff doesn't need to actually take anyone's orders. Instead of selling food and offering beverages they turn into iPad app explanation staff and they make at minimum 15% on each transaction. Not that I have anything against the wait staff earning more money, but this just doesn't seem quite right for some reason.
Well, it was an interesting experience if nothing else. Apparently this is popping up in major airports all over the country, including the Dunkin Donuts in BOS.
At the rate we're going, The Matrix will be here before we know it.
Bye humans. Better plug in.
