Service Innovation: Technology on your plate

The blog Experience Lab recently posted about the London Restaurant Inamo.  Although I can't say I've been, it sound like a cool place.  From Experience Lab:

 Inamo is a restaurant where “the control of the dining experience” is placed in the diners’ hands. Instead of customers being given a traditional paper menu and ordering with a waiter or waitress, they use an “interactive ordering system” to browse and select what they want to eat. 

 The menu is projected onto the table and is controlled using a trackpad on the right side of the table...

One of the best parts is that when you are choosing different options from the menu an image of the dish is projected onto your plate, which helps you get an idea of what it will look like. This is also useful if you want to show your fellow diners what you’re going to order.

Check out the video from the Wall Street Journal on Inamo as well.  As the video points out, it is a bit gimmicky, but it certainly adds to the experience of the meal.