Patent ID: 6844893

Claim:
A restaurant videoconferencing system comprising: a) a first plurality of booths installed as part of at least a first restaurant located in a first geographic location, a number of the first plurality of booths being located in an open area designed to promote high quality video conferencing, dining as well as to accommodate movement of restaurant workers and patrons, wherein the plurality of first booths are open to each other to promote a restaurant interactive social atmosphere; b) a second plurality of booths installed as part of at least a second restaurant located in a second geographic location, a number of the second plurality of booths being located in an open area sized to accommodate movement of restaurant workers and patrons, wherein the plurality of second booths are open to each other; c) the number of booths in each of the first and second locations being equipped with at least one flat viewing screen and connected via a private network providing both videoconferencing between booths in different geographic locations and multi-media access for each booth, wherein each booth has a curved table with a plurality of seating areas, directional microphones and speakers integrated within each booth, the curved table and the plurality of seating areas arranged so that viewing screen is sized and located to be visible from the plurality of seating areas, the plurality of seating areas further arranged so that individuals seated therein are in a face to face relationship during video conferencing with other individuals at a remote booth, the flat viewing screen having a wide aspect ratio and near eye level camera to enhance camera functionality and allow images of the plurality of individuals to fit in a natural configuration on the flat viewing screen during videoconferencing, adjacent booths separated by glass partitions to maximize booth privacy and inter-party communication and minimize intra-booth noise, and the table sized to accommodate serving a meal to a plurality of individuals in the seating areas; wherein the booths of the first geographic location are in a different time zone from the booths in the second geographic location; wherein each booth has high speed internet access, access to cable or satellite TV, access to a central server of computer games and programs, and access to productivity tools and resources; wherein the booths in each of the restaurants: i) are equipped with videoconferencing equipment that is part of the restaurant and which enables booths to videoconference with other booths within the private network and is capable of at least MPEG-2 speeds, and a computer having internet functionality, codec for compression and decompression of videoconferencing signals, a keyboard and a devices for multimedia access, and ii) are connected to a point of sale system adapted to track and charge use of the multimedia access and videoconferencing by patrons in each booth.