Prism has helped Cambridge Micro Engineering (CME) deliver an innovative automated menu ordering system to a pioneering new London restaurant. The delivery of the new system was possible due to a longstanding close link between the two companies.
Inamo is an Oriental fusion restaurant and bar in Soho, central London, where control of the dining experience is placed in the hands of the diner. At the core of this experience is an interactive ordering system. Diners place orders from an illustrated food and drinks menu projected on to their table surface. Diners can customise the mood of their table by changing lighting or choose from a selection of animated appearance settings to create a virtual tablecloth.
Each table at the 60-seat Inamo restaurant has a computer projector that casts a virtual menu onto the table. Using a touch screen interface, controlled using PCBs manufactured by Prism Electronics, diners can order from a virtual menu, order a cab and watch the chefs in the kitchen prepare their meals.
Prism Electronics manufactured the printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the interface between a wireless electronic POS device and touchpad. Each table in the 60-seat ground floor restaurant has its own projector housed in a differently designed cocoon. Prism manufactured the boards that enable the transfer of data from the tabletop menu to the POS system.
As well as navigating through food and drink options diners are able to view the Inamo chefs working in real time and browse for practical information about the local Soho neighbourhood. The system even includes taxi booking facilities.
A touch screen showing the menu items and other features is embedded in the dining table top. The diners touch the relevant icons on the interactive table and orders will be sent via an electronic point of sale system to the kitchen where their orders will be prepared and dispatched. The icons and features are projected onto the table top using a central PC projector.
The combined skills of Prism Electronics and CME meant that the Inamo design was taken from concept stage through to full manufacture quickly and efficiently. The optimisation process ensured that necessary products were manufactured economically both in terms of minimising component cost and the time taken to build.
“Prism and CME have worked successfully together on a number of projects so we have been able to bring a wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience to the table,” said David Dickin, business development director at Prism.
“CME has had access to an existing, close relationship and a wealth of skills that can deliver end-to-end design to manufacture services. Inamo can be confident that both Prism and CME are here to work for their benefit.”
“The collective skills and experience of our companies are far greater than that of many internal product design teams,” said John Thorne, director at CME. “We have therefore been able to offer Inamo a fast, focused and highly flexible service.”
