Theme of the week: The future of the restaurant world after the coronavirus
Globetrender notes that restaurants are now competing with supermarkets and in-home cooking experiences and predicts that this will change the industry in the future. It is likely that the principles of social distance will be relevant for a long time, and they are not compatible with traditional ideas about the interior of a restaurant: the World Health Organization recommended increasing the average area per visitor in catering establishments to 2,5 square meters. m.
Hot trends that are shaping tomorrow include DIY kits from renowned restaurant chefs, technological innovations that keep food fresh on delivery, and renting an entire establishment for a friendly or family dinner. Amsterdam-based Mediamatic restaurant has gone one step further with its glass-enclosed Serres Séparées along the waterfront, which lend a warm, intimate vibe to the cold concept of social distancing.
In addition, paper menus, cash payments and buffets are unlikely to return to the restaurant industry. Contactless catering is another important element of the hospitality industry of the future, when at all stages – from booking a table and seating to ordering and online payments – there is no need to interact with the staff. There are already apps (like Zomato) that allow you to book a table, view menus by scanning a QR code, and access new features like recommending food and drink pairings. The application allows visitors to pay the bill in any contactless way.
There will be more restaurants with open kitchens. This design will help to demonstrate cleanliness. Surfaces coated with antimicrobial materials will become the norm, and touch zones in washrooms will replace wireless sensors.
Article of the Week: Soundscapes of Future Cities
The New York Times writes that the 2020 pandemic has not only changed many aspects of life by restricting movement, but has also affected urban spaces. In particular, the sound of modern cities has changed.
Noise-monitoring recording microphones deployed in major cities capture man-made environments suddenly devoid of the traditional hallmarks of urban life. For example, parks and squares in London have become much quieter than before the pandemic. Human voices are not heard along the bay in Singapore. In Nova Scotia, the noise of cars and planes no longer drowns out the rustle of leaves. In New York in the spring it became quieter than on the coldest days of winter.
“The melody of nature has come to cities,” said Carlo Ratti, director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT. And this is the soundscape that harmonizes our lives and relationships with nature, and which is worth preserving for the future, according to the publication.
One line
- SpaceX is developing a space tourism program
- Biosensors will determine the lack of vitamins
- Australian scientists successfully test 44,2 Tbps optical chip internet connection
- New robotic prosthesis software uses computer vision
- Futurism in Sports Architecture: Images of Future Stadiums
- Bionic eye from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology sees in the dark
- Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence: how to train a morality machine
- Predictive analytics: how to predict the epidemic and business success
- European Union residents have paradoxical views on the future, the Bertelsmann Foundation found out
- New possibilities of artificial intelligence in robotics, healthcare, linguistics and nuclear engineering
Quote of the week
“Algorithms are becoming more and more powerful, but they cannot be neutral because they are still created by people. They reflect the likes and dislikes of the programmers who created them. In the not-too-distant future, such machine biases may become a major force that discriminates against people based on their race, gender, and sexual orientation. The programmer is faced with a difficult choice: what algorithm to create – one that will serve the government, corporations or ordinary people? In addition, it is important not only to get the output of the program, but also how to interpret it. You can’t hide behind mathematics and absolve yourself of moral responsibility.”
— Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli historian, futurist, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Video of the week
The new Micrashell protective suit will allow visitors to festivals and concerts to communicate with each other without maintaining social distance. The company presented a futuristic design concept. It consists of a helmet, filtration system and many LED lights.
book of the week
To understand the strategies of the future, it is important to understand what is happening in the present. It is this rule that was formulated by Kishore Mahbubani, author of the book “China won? A challenge to American primacy.” The prominent Singaporean intellectual and former diplomat wrote it because he wanted the rest of the world to better understand contemporary Chinese politics and culture. In a review by The Sunday Times, British historian Max Hastings noted that this book changes the traditional view of China’s authoritarianism, which is incompatible with modern thinking.
Podcast Weeks
One episode of the Original Content Podcast features the Upload series created for the Amazon Prime Video platform. The series is set in the near future, when people at the end of their lives have the ability to upload their digital copies into physical reality.
Subscribe and follow us on Yandex.Zen — technology, innovation, economics, education and sharing in one channel.