(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-26 11:40

The firm has also supplied its systems to restaurants in France, South Africa and Belgium.

Frame, a trendy sushi restaurant in Tel Aviv which has installed the system, said sales on tables with the e-Menu have increased by about 11 percent. Customers often call ahead to reserve spots equipped with the screens, manager Natalie Edry said.

At one of the e-Menu tables, information technology worker Gil Uriel and his young family were enthusiastic as they checked out pictures of the dishes on offer and squabbled over desserts.

"It's more visual," said Uriel, as his children clicked away furiously on a games function between courses. "We can still choose, we can still argue - but it's much easier when you can all see it."

In Japan, a company called Aska T3 has produced a similar system. But the field is attracting more than startups.

Microsoft says its new Microsoft Surface system, which transforms an entire table into one big touch-screen, is due to go live in spring 2008 in some US hotels and casinos, letting customers order food direct as well as play music and games.

The Seattle-based giant says on its website it will "transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live". Both Conceptic and Microsoft argue their examples of interactive and communal technology represent the future.

"We are living in a technology age," said Conceptic's Chitayat. "People are not afraid of screens." The company, which launched its pilot in 2006, expects to turn a profit in mid-2009, he added.

Agencies

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