Bloomin' Onlion with a side of Surveillance?

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Sparky_D

Sparky_D

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https://www.wired.com/story/outback-steakhouse-presto-vision-surveillance/

At an Outback Steakhouse Franchise, Surveillance Blooms
Fried onion meets 1984.
A Portland, Oregon-area Outback Steakhouse will install a computer vision system to monitor interactions between employees and guests.Illustration: Casey Chin; Getty Images

As casual dining chains have declined in popularity, many have experimented with surveillance technology designed to maximize employee efficiency and performance. Earlier this week, one Outback Steakhouse franchise announced it would begin testing such a tool, a computer vision program called Presto Vision, at a single outpost in the Portland, Oregon area. Your Bloomin' Onion now comes with a side of Big Brother.


According to Presto CEO Rajat Suri, Presto Vision takes advantage of preexisting surveillance cameras that many restaurants already have installed. The system uses machine learning to analyze footage of restaurant staff at work and interacting with guests. It aims to track metrics like how often a server tends to their tables or how long it takes for food to come out. At the end of a shift, managers receive an email of the compiled statistics, which they can then use to identify problems and infer whether servers, hostesses, and kitchen staff are adequately doing their jobs.

“It’s not that different from a Fitbit or something like that,” says Suri. “It’s basically the same, we would just present the metrics to the managers after the shift.” Presto says it's testing the technology at multiple restaurants across the country, but declined to name any other than Outback.


The Outback Steakhouse pilot will use Presto Vision specifically to analyze footage from the lobby of a franchise operated by Evergreen Restaurant Group, which manages nearly 40 Outback Steakhouse locations across the United States. It will monitor factors like how crowded the lobby is and how many customers decide to leave rather than wait for a table. Suri says Presto Vision could be used not only to evaluate employee performance after the fact, but also course-correct in the moment. For instance, managers could be sent text messages when the number of people waiting for a table reaches a certain threshold.

For now, workers on the ground don't know much about how the technology will be used. "I don't know anything about it," one worker at the Portland Outback location said over the phone. "We have zero interaction with that. I'm pretty sure that's just still in the developmental phase."

Presto Vision's software doesn't identify individual diners and doesn't currently employ technology like facial recognition. “We do not collect any personal information and the video is deleted within three days of collection,” Jeff Jones, the president and CEO of Evergreen Restaurant Group, said in an email. But even if their data is anonymized, consumers may be unnerved to learn that an algorithm is monitoring their night out.
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None for me thanks. I never have patronized their chain as they don't support the 2nd and don't allow CC in their establishments.
 
I went to an Outback with an Australian guy. He said whoever developed the place has never been to Australia. I tend to agree with him.
Just like a guy from India said about a place called the Bombay Bicycle Club. He said there was nothing on their menu that he could get in India.
He ordered a vegetarian pizza with a bottle of catsup. That guy almost starved to death in the month we were in training.
 
Curmudgeon said:
None for me thanks. I never have patronized their chain as they don't support the 2nd and don't allow CC in their establishments.
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I've never been to one where I wasn't carrying. Never seen a sign or any other indication that they don't allow CC at their restaurants. Never seen any complaints that they are anti-2nd amendment. Do you have links/sources for any of this? It's a surprise to me.
backlash said:
I went to an Outback with an Australian guy. He said whoever developed the place has never been to Australia. I tend to agree with him.
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I never expected them to be connected in any way to Australia. "The Outback" is just the name of their restaurant, not an indication that that's where they started. I like their food, except the steaks can sometimes be over-salted. They're just a regular mid-range steak house IMHO.
 
Haertig said:
I never expected them to be connected in any way to Australia. "The Outback" is just the name of their restaurant, not an indication that that's where they started. I like their food, except the steaks can sometimes be over-salted. They're just a regular mid-range steak house IMHO.
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They market heavily on an Australian theme. Everything they do is to give the impression they are an Australian company.
Everyone knows where the Outback is. Bloomin is, I believe Australian slang, shrimp on the barbie leaves no room for misinterpretation. No, they want everyone to associate them with Australia.
 
Curmudgeon said:
https://www.concealedcarry.com/law/businesses-that-prohibit-guns-or-have-no-gun-policies/
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It seems odd that I've been into lots of establishments listed on that webpage, and they don't have any signs indicating "no firearms allowed". One in particular - Costco - used to have "no guns" signs in all of their stores around here. They took all of those signs down many years ago. There are no signs at any of their stores in my area now, not for many years. That does not seem to jive with the website mention of "Costco has always had a strong company policy against guns. Recently they started to add their no gun policy to the member agreement." My member agreement says nothing about guns that I can recall (but I don't have it sitting here in front of me to verify that). From all appearances here, it seems like Costco might have been anti-gun in the past, but corrected their behavior later.

Weird that all these places on that list claim to be anti-gun, at least per that website, but when it comes down to it they don't announce of publish that intent to their customers.
 
Huh! I can't tell you how many times I have shopped at the Safeway in Walla Walla while open carrying. Nobody ever said a thing.
Maybe because I'm an old man in a cowboy hat . . . The cigarette store that I stop at when I go to town is a great place to open carry. I was on my way to the range and stopped in to get supplies wearing my 357 in a shoulder rig and my 40 in a 4 o'clock belt holster, the lady behind me said that if the **** hit the fan she was going to my house. We laughed and I told her she had to bring food and her own guns. I had never seen the woman before but it was clear that nobody was afraid of me or my guns.
 
Haertig said:
It seems odd that I've been into lots of establishments listed on that webpage, and they don't have any signs indicating "no firearms allowed".
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I believe they are relaying their stance more so than actually posting their business and risk controversy.

They do donate to anti-gun groups which is enough for me to spend my green backs somewhere else. My wife occasionally goes to Jo Ann Fabrics, but she would rather go to Hobby Lobby.

We seldom go out to any place to eat, I would rather buy a couple good steaks or baby back ribs, and do them at home outside on the grill.. Besides, it gives me an excuse to have a cold beer or three or perhaps some Jack and Coke, lol.

There has been many a time that I stood out there in the winter when it's snowing with a J&C in my hand and good food on the grill.
 
If you try to avoid all the businesses that ban guns or do other things you disagree with you will eventually just wind up siting in an empty field, naked, and hungry.
I understand not spending my cash with places I don't agree with but mostly it's an empty gesture and they will not notice, or care if you tell them.
There are exceptions, like Dick's, but those are rare.
 
backlash said:
If you try to avoid all the businesses that ban guns or do other things you disagree with you will eventually just wind up siting in an empty field, naked, and hungry.
I understand not spending my cash with places I don't agree with but mostly it's an empty gesture and they will not notice, or care if you tell them.
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You are exactly right. Most of the businesses on that list in the link I don't have anywhere near me so I don't miss them anyway.

I don't necessarily avoid them, but they aren't on my list of go to places either merely because it's an hour drive to get to them.
 
Boo! If they want to improve their customer base they should just try making better food. My wife and I swore off the one close to us after our last meal. It was awful.
 
Some of the anti-gun retailers I actively go into their stores. e.g., REI. I didn't say I buy anything there (not anymore - however I used to buy a lot from them). But I inspect all the goods, handle them, get advice from their salespeople ... then go buy the item (if I liked it) off of Amazon or some other place that hasn't taken an anti-gun stance like REI. I would do the same at D i c k's, since there are several near me, but they don't really sell anything that I'd want to buy elsewhere anyway. So they don't even get graced by my presence to inspect-but-not-buy their merchandise. If they do ever start carrying some item that I'm interested in, sure, I'll use them as a showroom for a later online purchase. I'm thinking that by next summer I'll need to buy me another pop-up sunshade, and that may be a good item to go showcasing and testing out at D i c k's, before purchasing online elsewhere.
 
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