Tech:  “This self-driving billboard and vending machine is so dystopian”

Tech: “This self-driving billboard and vending machine is so dystopian”

Photo: PerceptIn, Mashable

The company says the DragonFly is a retail opportunity and will start selling it in the first part of 2019 for $40,000. It’s this lowish price compared to other digital billboards (this marketing site says a digital ad starts at around $10,000 for a month depending on the location) and to other self-driving vehicles that the CEO sees as a key selling point. That and its capabilities to collect location-based data showing when and where people are paying attention to the vehicle…”

— Shasha Lekach, Mashable

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Two additional examples of these types of devices

“PepsiCo testing self-driving vending machine in California”

Photo: University of the Pacific in Stockton, UPI.com

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“PerceptIn unleashes a driverless mobile vending machine that displays video ads”

Photo: PerceptIn, Venture Beat

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Tech: Traffic jam food delivery via billboard ordering is slated for LA next

Tech: Traffic jam food delivery via billboard ordering is slated for LA next

Photo: Burger King in Washinton Post

“Amid that influx of innovation, …Burger King is the first fast-food brand to deliver food to people in the middle of a traffic jam. In Mexico City, the company said, delivery drivers are already receiving an average of 7,000 orders per day, mostly to homes and offices.

To make the traffic jam delivery process possible, Burger King’s Mexico app activates the service after identifying congested areas in Mexico City during periods of high traffic. Customers can place an order only if the app determines that the driver will be locked in traffic for at least 30 minutes and they are within 1.8 miles of a Burger King restaurant, the company said.

Push notifications alert drivers when they’ve entered a delivery zone, and company billboards display information about the status of customer orders. Drivers are prompted to place their order using hands-free voice command.

Though the company did not offer a timeline, Burger King says it expects to roll out the Traffic Jam Whopper in other cities with high-density traffic, such as Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.”

— Peter Holley , Washington Post

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Tech: What billboard? “These magical sunglasses block all the screens around you”

Tech: What billboard? “These magical sunglasses block all the screens around you”

Photo: IRL Glasses, Wired

“EARLY LAST YEAR, Scott Blew was standing in line at a food truck in Los Angeles when he caught the glare of Fox News on a television out of the corner of his eye. This is ridiculous, he thought. He couldn’t even escape the deluge of the news, or the ubiquity of screens, on a jaunt outdoors to get lunch. You could consciously choose to put your phone away, to step away from your laptop, but then some other screen would pop up elsewhere, whether you liked it or not.

Blew, an entrepreneur and engineer, recalled an article he’d recently read in WIRED about a new kind of film that blocked the light emitted from screens. Plaster it on the glass walls of fishbowl conference rooms and other people could see in—but they couldn’t see what was on someone’s laptop. Blew wondered if the same technology might work on a pair of glasses, to block the screens that seemed to be everywhere.

He contacted Steelcase, the company that made the Casper screen-blocking film, and ordered a sample. Then he popped out the lenses in a pair of cheap sunglasses and replaced them with the film. Amazingly, it worked: Blew could look through the lenses and see everything—except for screens, which turned black.

Blew brought the prototype to his friend Ivan Cash, an artist, who thought the glasses were brilliant. Now, Cash and a small team are turning that concept into a real product. Their IRL Glasses, which launched on Kickstarter this week, block the wavelengths of light that comes from LED and LCD screens. Put them on and the TV in the sports bar seems to switch off; billboards blinking ahead seem to go blank. Within three days of launch, the project had surpassed its funding goal of $25,000. (Like all Kickstarters, this one comes with the usual caveats….)””

— Arielle Pardes, Wired

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Tech:  Larger scale building installations starting to convert to digital as larger sign tech becomes possible

Tech: Larger scale building installations starting to convert to digital as larger sign tech becomes possible

Photo: Atlanta in Town

“Midtown stakeholders mobilize against massive digital billboards”

“An effort to digitize two of Atlanta’s most prominent billboards has been met with a legal challenge.

In February, the City of Atlanta’s Office of Buildings issued permits that would allow Tazmedia Group, which owns the massive advertising signs on the side and top of a 1960s office building at 1655 Peachtree Street, to upgrade the billboards to digital changing-message signs.

The Trivision billboards, which adorn the same building as a recognizable metal peach, are marketed by the owner as the ‘world’s largest,’ passed by hundreds of thousands of commuters daily on Interstate 85.

But a few parties who could be impacted by the potential glow of the gigantic signage are calling foul…

‘They did not comply with the ordinance, they were illegally permitted, they exceed the allowed sign sizes by several multiples, and they are general-advertising signs masquerading as business-identification signs,’ say a summary of the BZA appeal…

The appellants now say that allowing the signs to be converted to LED light boards would be ‘further rewarding the sign owner’s illegal conduct.'”

— Collin Kelley, Atlanta in Town

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Tech: Edible billboard “Largest restaurant booking platform to launch London’s edible map”

Tech: Edible billboard “Largest restaurant booking platform to launch London’s edible map”

Photo: London Post

“…OpenTable, the world’s leading restaurant booking service, is giving Londoners a chance to taste their way through the capital’s boroughs with the first edible map of the city.

On Tuesday 2nd July, those visiting King’s Cross Euston Road between 12pm and 5pm will be able to take a bite into the flavours of London from OpenTable’s interactive edible map billboard. To celebrate London’s vibrant diversity of cuisines from Turkish to Japanese, the map will feature a selection of canapé style dishes from around the world paired with the boroughs in which they’re most associated, for diners to take away…

Before foodie fans decide where to head for their next great dining experience, they can visit OpenTable’s edible map in King’s Cross to get a ‘taste’ of the area…

[Editor’s note: Sign offered a menu larger than many food trucks which is why we’ve included it here]

Greek: Honey and Cumin Hummus with Griddled Flatbread
Turkish: Dolma with Roasted Garlic Yoghurt
Bangladeshi: Spiced Lamb Biryani
Japanese: Avocado and Cream Cheese Maki with Soy and Pickled Ginger
Mexican: Short Rib Beef Taco, Sour Cream, Jalapeño Salsa
Indian: Onion Bhaji with Coriander and Mango Raita
Afternoon Tea: Scones with Clotted Cream Strawberry Jam
American: Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sriracha Mayo
Baked Ratatouille with Goat’s Cheese
British: Fish and Chips with Samphire Tartare Sauce
Italian: Pork and Fennel Tortellini with Aged Parmesan
Italian: Truffle Arancini with San Marzano Tomato
Indian: Pea and Potato Samosa Chaat”

— London Post

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