First came gabby innkeepers, then floor shows and jukeboxes and now coin television.
A northwest suburban Rolling Meadows company is attempting to develop a market for booth-side TV for diners who crave entertainment while they eat.
Although Daniel Slater admits there are bugs to be worked out-one being financing-Pizza Hut`s central division has agreed to try his Entertainment Vision system in four of its suburban Chicago outlets.
The coin-operated units, which provide 5 to 6 minutes of viewing for 25 cents, have been placed in Pizza Hut outlets in Lombard, Elk Grove Village and Aurora, and are scheduled to be installed in Norridge before the end of the month.
Unlike regular television programming, Slater`s units display specially condensed and edited videotapes of sports, music, cartoons and comedy. The 5- to 6-minute play time coincides with the edited segments so diners get to see a complete cartoon for their quarter, he said.
The units are not cheap. It costs about $25,000 to equip a 25-booth restaurant, including a control center in the back room, but Slater said he hopes to reduce that price considerably once the product goes into mass production.
”I have had over 400 inquiries about it, including some from (other)
restaurant chains,” said Slater, an Australian-born inventor and producer of gadgets whose Wessex Inc. is seeking financing to begin producing the TV system. He said he has lined up a potential investor and hopes to cut a deal by the middle of the month.
His contract with Pizza Hut prevents him from selling to other competitive restaurant chains of more than 20 outlets without that company`s permission.
Slater said the Entertainment Vision system is still being developed to iron out bugs detected in early versions. The screens are being increased to 8 inches in the Norridge Pizza Hut because of complaints in the Lombard outlet that the 5-inch screen is too small, and the newer systems will have customer- controlled volume dials. In Lombard, an employee must adjust the volume with a key.
Slater also is working to improve the sound system to mollify teenagers who complain that the rock-video sound reproduction is inadequate.
Programming is also being revised. ”We tried great moments in sports, but it was the least popular and we are changing it to a program called Picture Pages,” Slater said. With that program kids will be given a coloring book and can follow instructions given by Bill Cosby on the TV.
In the three months of operation, the system has been most popular among children. ”Parents will put in a dollar for cartoons to keep their kids quiet. Teenagers put in a couple of quarters for rock. Adults may put in a quarter for a look at Candid Camera, but that`s it,” he said.
”We`re doing a lot of experimentation to see what works. Some (videos)
may work well in one restaurant but not in others. Tastes also vary from region to region.”
With an eye on non-restaurant markets, Slater said he is working to develop a flat-screen television set that will fit on the back of train, bus and airplane seats. Airlines have offered movies and special programs on flights for years, but there is no individual selection possible.
Entertainment Vision could offer as many as four different programs.
Waiting rooms also are a potential market, although individual pay-TV systems have been in use there for years.
Slater said he got the idea for Entertainment Vision while looking for new products after sales of computerized public scales he developed declined due to market saturation. The scales provided users with a printout of their weight and actuarial tables showing the desired weight range for their age, build and sex.
In 1989 he visited a local firm making jukeboxes. ”They were developed in the early 1900s, and there has been virtually no change since then. You put your money in and the music blares throughout the restaurant,” Slater said.
”That`s where I got the idea for a little individual (television)
jukebox for each booth,” he said. ”But why just music? Why not a complete entertainment center?”
