I knew a couple of people who would love this idea - ordering food from a menu by using a wireless digital pen to scan barcodes, which then sends your order to the restaurant's kitchen without your having to speak with anyone. The Deli Touch pen by Taraoka is essentially a camera that reads barcodes embedded in the pictures on a menu and sends them to a printer in the kitchen where the order is filled.

Of course, without a robot, a human being would be necessary at some point to actually bring the food out to you, no? Then there's the pesky business of having to pay for the food, though I would think that could easily be automated too. If this idea catches on, think of the whole new industry that could develop to serve the socially phobic.

Via Trends in Japan.