Business Journal: With iPads, The Social aims to go “beyond face to face”

Coming soon to Seattle: a restaurant, bar and nightclub where social interaction won’t only be real. It will be virtual too.

The Social, a gay “ultra lounge” scheduled to open in mid-August on Capitol Hill, will have what its owners think will be the city’s first iPad ordering system for food and drinks.

Developed by HubWorks Interactive LLC, the system is marketed as a way to increase efficiency for restaurants and bars.

But what excites Laura Olson, co-owner of The Social, is how the system gives customers added ways to connect. With an iPad in each booth, they not only will be able to order food and drinks using the touch screens, but also use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and foursquare, and even order drinks for and have online chats with people in other booths.

“We wanted something more than a bar,” Olson said. “This ties together the social experience and the connectivity of social media. … It goes beyond face to face.”

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2011/06/the-social-aims-to-go-beyond-the-face.html