A flying tray that delivers food

A Japanese restaurant in London has come up with an innovative method to deliver food to its customers - serving food on what it claims is the world's first flying tray. The remote-controlled flying tray dubbed the iTray can deliver food at speeds of up to 25mph. It is a lightweight, carbon fibre gadget and has a range of 50 meters. The waiter and waitresses at YO! Sushi use an iPad app to guide the platter through the air, while kitchen staff can check that  the food is delivered by watching real-time video feeds from two on-board cameras.

The worlds first flying waiter, the iTray - YO! Sushi YO! Sushi has gone one-step further with the introduction of the world's first flying tray to deliver their new range of Japanese rice burgers to customers.watch the flying video
 

Harbin's Robot Restaurant ....... the first in the world ?????

it'the first in the world Robot Restaurant HARBIN   A restaurant in downtown Harbin, China, employs 20 robots instead of humans that cook, serve and entertain its guests. The restaurant opened in June 2012 and has since become a novelty spot in Heilongjiang provinces capital. When a diner walks in, an usher robot extends their mechanic arm to the side and says Earth person hello. Welcome to the Robot Restaurant Patrons can then place their order, which is relayed by humans to one of the four robot chefs who are able to cook various styles of dumplings and noodles. Once the dish is prepared, a robot waiter, which runs along tracks on the floor, carries it from kitchen to table. Prepared dishes are placed on a suspended conveyor belt and when the plate reaches the right table the mechanical arms lift it off and set it down. There`s a singing robot too !!! The robots are between four and five feet tall and can display 10 different facial expressions. They can work continuously for five hours after a two-hour charge. But the staff doesn’t come cheap - each robot costs between 200,000 to 300,000 hinese yuan (US$31,500 – US$47,000) with an additional 5 million yuan (US$790,000) invested into the restaurant itself.   (Credit: Xinhua) Harbin is one of the most genuinely unique places in China!!. known for its annual ice festival, the city has many other marvels , a huge tiger park   that  travel faster than 300 km/h a train in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius. These are all cool, but Harbin is apparently not a city to rest on its laurels. The Robot Restaurant opened in Harbin in June . .robot Restaurant staffs a total of 20 robots as waiters, cooks and busboys.. . The robots were designed and built by a local firm, the Harbin Haohai Robot Company. Each robot costs between 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese yuan (US$31,500  US$47,000) with an additional 5 million yuan (US$790,000) invested into the restaurant itself. With the average Robot Restaurant meal costing less than 62 yuan (US$10), the restaurant is not meant to earn Harbin Haohai money. Instead, it turns out the restaurant is just   a brilliant piece of marketing !!

China restaurant goes robot crazyJapan has been at the forefrunt of robotics for decades. Over the years it has created mechanised medics, football teams and even chefs.

watch how they are entertaining

Underground hotel in China

Photo rendering courtesy of SHANGHAI SHIMAO PROPERTY GROUP/ ATKINS 

While China has been leading the trend in skyscrapers for the past decade, architects and designers apparently decided to turn things upside-down for a change. According to CNN, China recently broke ground on the first luxury underground hotel near Shanghai.

Located at the foot of a 100-meter (approximately 328 feet) abandoned quarry at Shanghai’s Tianmashan, the 380-room resort will have three levels above ground and 16 underground, and will also offer spa services, a sports facility and an underwater restaurant. 08 more images after the break...

The property is being developed by Shanghai Shimao Property Group and designed by U.K. based engineering firm Atkins. According to SmartPlanet, the underground hotel is part of the larger project to build Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a large-scale theme park. Reports say the hotel is expected to open in 2014 or 2015.

Just how much will this underground wonderland cost? If you're intrigued, industry experts say the nightly room rates will start at around $320 a night (RMB 2,000).

The hotel, The Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, will be managed by InterContinental Hotels Group (Photo: Shanghai Shimao Property Group/ Atkins)

Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is looking to grow its Sheraton brand aggressively during 2013, with 30 planned openings, predominantly in the Asia Pacific region. — Sheraton will open 15 new hotels across China over the next 12 months, including the striking Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort (pictured below), moving Starwood closer to its target of 80 properties in China by the end of 2015.

Expansion for the brand will also extend into Africa and The Middle East with the addition of four new hotels, including the Sheraton Medina Hotel in Saudi Arabia, Sheraton Dubai Mall of Emirates and the first in Tajikistan - Sheraton Dushanbe Hotel. Sheraton will also open two new hotels in Turkey, in the cities of Adana and Bursa. 04 more images after the break...

In Latin America Sheraton will open its ninth property in Argentina with the Sheraton Tucuman Hotel. There will also be two openings in Brazil as it ramps up preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, with the Sheraton da Bahia Hotel in Salvador and Sheraton Reserva do Paiva Hotel and Convention Center, located 30 minutes from Recife, opening in early 2014.

Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts said, "Sheraton is anticipating record-breaking growth, putting us on track to open our 500th hotel in 2015. The majority of our new hotel development is taking place in the world's fast-growing economies, while in North America, Sheraton remains one of the most sought-after brands for conversion opportunities." Images © MAD architects/Sheraton Huzhou

The 10,000 Bedroom Nazi Hotel But Never Used

Stretching for over three miles along the white sandy beach on Germany's Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, lies the world’s biggest hotel with 10,000 bedrooms all facing the sea. But for 70 years since it was built, no holiday maker has ever stayed there. This is hotel Prora, a massive building complex built between 1936 and 1939 by the Nazis as part of their "Strength through Joy" ("Kraft durch Freude," KdF) programme. The aim was to provide leisure activities for German workers and spread Nazi propaganda. Locals call Prora the Colossus because of its monumental structure.

Prora lies on an extensive bay between the Sassnitz and Binz regions, known as the Prorer Wiek, on the narrow heath (the Prora) which separates the lagoon of the Großer Jasmunder Bodden from the Baltic Sea. The complex consist of eight identical buildings that extend over a length of 4.5 kilometres and are roughly 150 metres from the beach. A workforce of 9,000 took three years to build it, starting in 1936, and the Nazis had long-term plans for four identical resorts, all with cinema, festival halls, swimming pools and a jetty where Strength Through Joy cruise ships would dock.

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Hitler's plans for Prora were ambitious. He wanted a gigantic sea resort, the "most mighty and large one to ever have existed", holding 20,000 beds. All rooms were planned to overlook the sea, while corridors and sanitation are located on the land side. Each room of 5 by 2.5 metres was to have two beds, a wardrobe and a sink. There were communal toilets and showers and ballrooms on each floor. In the middle, a massive building was to be erected that could be converted into a military hospital in case of war. 13 more images after the break...

War, indeed happened, before the building could be completed and Hitler’s priorities changed. He transferred the construction workers to build the V-Weapons plant at Peenemünde instead. During the Allied bombing campaign, many people from Hamburg took refuge in one of the housing blocks, and later refugees from the east of Germany were housed there. By the end of the war, these buildings housed female auxiliary personnel for the Luftwaffe. After the war, Prora was used as a military outpost for the East German army. After German reunification in 1990, part of it was used by the Military Technical School of the Bundeswehr and later to house asylum seekers from the Balkans.

Today, the whole place is still pretty much deserted except for a few blocks that has been repurposed for other uses. In 2011, one block was converted into a 400-bed youth hostel and the plan now is to turn Prora into a modern holiday resort with 300 beds that includes tennis courts and swimming pool and a small shopping center.

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