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See the world... without moving from the bar
By Mark Prigg, Evening Standard 04.09.07
Enjoy the view: Video screens at twentyfour:london show panoramic scenes including Trafalgar Square
Atmospheric: Scenes of the American West
Welcome to the bar that can transport drinkers anywhere in the world.
The £1 million venue, twentyfour:london, opens tomorrow as a private members bar.
Giant screens will show videos of locations across the world, from a Hawaii beach to the Grand Canyon. Infrared sensors can detect when you are in front of a screen, and an interactive bar recognises what you are drinking.
Cris Calarco, who designed the club in Kingly Street, near Carnaby Street, said: "Most clubs tend to be about booths and dark corners, and we really wanted to try something different.
"The walls and bar are giant video screens, and we can do whatever we want with them.
"We can transport people to anywhere in the world, or mirror what is going on outside. When you put a glass on the bar, the rim shape is scanned and from that we can tell what the drink is - so we can make it easy to order the same drink.
"We also have heat sensors, so if you touch the bar, a flower grows under the bar wherever you've touched it."
The screen can display a virtual aquarium, with a digital fish that follows customers. "People can play with the interactive virtual koi carp, or dance and watch as thermal shadows replicate every movement," said Mr Calarco.
