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Pizza Hut Tests New "Subconscious Menu" That Reads Your Mind 186

Posted by samzenpus from the pizza-you-want-before-you-want-it dept.
HughPickens.com writes Allison Griswold reports at Slate that Pizza Hut wants to help you order your food subconsciously with a new product that is being tested at 300 locations across the UK that uses eye-tracking technology to allow diners to order within seconds using only their eyes. The digital menu shows diners a canvas of 20 toppings and builds their pizza based on which toppings they look at longest. To try again, a diner can glance at a "restart" button. "Finally the indecisive orderer and the prolonged menu peruser can cut time and always get it right," a Pizza Hut spokesperson said in a statement, "so that the focus of dining can be on the most important part — the enjoyment of eating!" According to news release from Tobii Technology, the Subconscious Menu can determine which ingredients your mind and eyes have been looking at longest in exactly 2.5 seconds. The menu then uses a powerful mathematical algorithm to identify, from 4896 possible ingredient combinations, the customer's perfect pizza. "Tests on the Subconscious Menu have been incredibly positive with 98% of people, recommended a pizza with ingredients they love."
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Pizza Hut Tests New "Subconscious Menu" That Reads Your Mind More

Pizza Hut Tests New "Subconscious Menu" That Reads Your Mind

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  • Dumb idea (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kuzb ( 724081 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @03:59PM (#48517425)

    Sometimes I'm just reading the menu. Tracking what I look at or how long I'm looking at it isn't representative of my decision making process.

    • Re:Dumb idea (Score:4, Interesting)

      by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:06PM (#48517487)
      And I'm sure that couldn't possibly be a scam to try to get people to order a few slivers of onion or green pepper at an extra cost of $1.50 each (while taking away some of the pepperoni at the same time).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dkman ( 863999 )
        Yea, I was thinking I most often get the Pepperoni because I'm not willing to pay the extra for the multiple toppings I really want. So while it may give me a tasty pie I'm not willing to pay for it.

      • Re:Dumb idea (Score:4, Funny)

        by FatdogHaiku ( 978357 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:57PM (#48517967)

        And I'm sure that couldn't possibly be a scam to try to get people to order a few slivers of onion or green pepper at an extra cost of $1.50 each (while taking away some of the pepperoni at the same time).

        They may take our pepperoni, but they'll never take our heartburn!

      • Pizza Hut often has pizza with free toppings, you just pay based on size. The more toppings you choose, the less you get of each one. There is no reason for this to change the price based on their typical menu.

    • I rather like the concept, if applied well. What usually happens now is an impatient server wanting you to order asap. This could be a boon to those who like to take their time ordering. No need for any human to be involved until the menu says your order is finalized.

      • Why use an eye-tracking system, though, over a touchscreen ordering system? You select the toppings you want, submit the order, pay, get your receipt, move down the line, and get your food at a second window. No need to worry that you're tossing pepperoni on the pie because the person's eyes happened to linger there just a little bit too long. (Or have to inconvenience customers by making them remove the pepperoni from their order when the system thought they wanted pepperoni.)

        Or is touch-screen too much

      • No need for any human to be involved until the menu says your order is finalized.

        Sure, but they could do that with a self serve kiosk. Just push the touchscreen for the items you want, and swipe your card to pay. The go to the pickup window to get your pizza. There is no need for an eye tracker.

    • Re:Dumb idea (Score:5, Funny)

      by houstonbofh ( 602064 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:10PM (#48517527)

      Sometimes I'm just reading the menu. Tracking what I look at or how long I'm looking at it isn't representative of my decision making process.

      "Why does it always want to give me oniones? I HATE ONIONS!"

      Yeah, I can see that being an issue.

    • >> Sometimes I'm just reading the menu

      And sometimes I'm reading it - fascinated even - to avoid talking to (or intentionally annoy) my companion(s).

      Oh wait, this isn't passiveagg.org?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ZeroPly ( 881915 )
      They're trying to bypass your decision making process and get to a deeper level - to get you to buy something that you don't logically want, but have a neurochemical need for. Making your food addictive is the best way to make money (David Kessler - "The End of Overeating"). And measuring how long you look at something to gauge interest is nothing new - look up the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest that is used on pedophiles.

    • Dumb idea (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:20PM (#48517615)

      If it's tracking by watching eye movements, I eagerly await their new Boob Flavored Pizza.

    • Tracking what I look at or how long I'm looking at it isn't representative of my decision making process.

      How do you know that? Are you really all that sure that your eyes don't look at something that you enjoy for a tenth of a second longer than when looking at things you don't enjoy?

      • How do you know that? Are you really all that sure that your eyes don't look at something that you enjoy for a tenth of a second longer than when looking at things you don't enjoy?

        And yet who is to say that I wouldn't look at something for 1/10 second longer just because I absolutely hate that topping and have a hard time believing anyone sane would eat it?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

          Well, based on testing, at least 98% of people don't do that. Also, how likely are you, seriously, to stare at a picture of sardines when you don't like them? And even if you do it the first time, what are the odds you're going to keep that revulsion and outrage for subsequent viewings? Outside of the "pickles ruined my life"-style mental illness, I just don't see it happening.

          • the "pickles ruined my life"-style mental illness,

            Oh, thank God, it's not just me. I hate ordering a burger and having to remove the pickled gherkin. And tomato. And sliced onion. And lettuce. And bun.

    • Re:Dumb idea (Score:4, Insightful)

      by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:40PM (#48517797)

      Sometimes I'm just reading the menu. Tracking what I look at or how long I'm looking at it isn't representative of my decision making process.

      Ah, I think you really need to review the definition of subconcious again.

      Point here is even you won't know how dumb the idea really is...until it works.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by SeaFox ( 739806 )

        Ah, I think you really need to review the definition of subconcious again.

        Point here is even you won't know how dumb the idea really is...until it works.

        Wouldn't the idea working prove that it's not a dumb idea?

    • I think it sounds like a pretty good use of technology. It's a pizza. It's not like it's some important life decision.

      Most of the time we are just happy with whatever pizza we happen to find. Incongruently the decision on what pizza to order often seems to be one of the most paralyzing decisions anyone ever faces. I think we tend to overthink it pretty often. This seems like it could actually streamline the process. it doesn't seem to require any kind of commitment to the result. it shows you the pizza

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by aiht ( 1017790 )

        Most of the time we are just happy with whatever pizza we happen to find.

        I like your pizza acquisition method. I'm imagining just walking along, spotting a pizza tree, being happy.

        • you probably would be. i'm thinking of times i walk into the breakroom at work. WHOA! THERES PIZZA THERE! even if it's cold and of questionable age, it's like finding a $20 bill in an old coat. it doesn't matter what kind it is. everyone seems to react this way.

      • the decision on what pizza to order often seems to be one of the most paralyzing decisions anyone ever faces

        Christ, and I thought my life was a bit dull...compared to you I'm a Navy SEAL on crystal meth juggling nuclear hand grenades..

    • Agreed; this idea is just stupid. I suspect someone's brother-in-law needed a job.

  • ...and the problem was...? (Score:3)

    by holophrastic ( 221104 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:05PM (#48517483)

    I can't say that I've ever considered it painful, or at all problematic in the slightest degree, to select toppings for my pizza. This isn't a solution to a problem. It is, however, a gimmick that will create a problem.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 0bject ( 758316 )
      You might not have a problem selecting pizza toppings, however, in my experience Pizza Hut has a problem delivering the pizza with the toppings you selected. This way they can just build a pizza of random ingredients because of "SUPER SHINY MAGIC MIND READER" rather than because "We dropped your pizza on the floor and this is what popped out of the oven next." or "Our pizza is shit anyway why do you care whats on it"
  • I bet 4896 combinations should have been 4096 combinations.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )
      I read it as 4096, until I saw your correction. That'd be most likely, but 4896 is theoretically possible, if not all combinations are valid.

      I'm sorry, button and portobello aren't available on the same pizza. Seems they fight in the box. The red stuff isn't tomato sauce, it's mushroom blood.

  • Logic fail (Score:5, Funny)

    by JohnFen ( 1641097 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:10PM (#48517521)

    a Pizza Hut spokesperson said in a statement, "so that the focus of dining can be on the most important part — the enjoyment of eating!"

    Anyone who cares about the enjoyment of eating wouldn't be in a Pizza Hut in the first place.

    • Foodies can't be poor?

    • De gustibus non disputandum: Domino's Tests Limits Of What Humans Will Eat - YouTube [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by guises ( 2423402 )
      If you've only ever lived in cities known for their pizza, Pizza Hut seems like cheap junk. If you've ever lived in one of the many many places where people don't even know what good pizza tastes like, you'll learn to appreciate Pizza Hut for being, at least, edible.

  • powerful, it says (Score:5, Funny)

    by clovis ( 4684 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:15PM (#48517565)

    I was dubious until I read this sentence.
    "The menu then uses a powerful mathematical algorithm to identify, from 4896 possible ingredient combinations, the customer's perfect pizza."

    When I found out that it wasn't just any mathematical algorithm, but rather a powerful one, then I knew that this would be the ordering technology for me.
    The only catch seems to be that the end result will be always be a Pizza Hut product.

    • Son: Daddy, what is that disgusting looking topping on the menu. Father: Son, stop looking at it or the computer will put it on your pizza!

    • The only catch seems to be that the end result will be always be a Pizza Hut product.

      If you got into a sort of Zen trance state and emptied your mind, you could end up with no pizza at all.

  • Time tracking is a *bad* metric (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tlambert ( 566799 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:18PM (#48517591)

    Time tracking is a *bad* metric.

    As someone who is trying to choose my last topping on an N-topping pizza deal, I will spend my absolutely most time trying to choose between the last two toppings, unsure of which one of the two I want more. That will push those two toppings way up on the list, inflating their supposed value to me, when in fact, they are chosen last precisely because they have less value than anything else to me.

    This seems like a way to sell extra toppings for an up-charge.

    • This seems like a way to sell extra toppings for an up-charge.

      How is that not a feature? (assuming Pizza Hut's point of view of course)

      • This seems like a way to sell extra toppings for an up-charge.

        How is that not a feature? (assuming Pizza Hut's point of view of course)

        Just copying McDonalds "do you want fries with that" suggestive selling.

    • Yeah; I was thinking the same thing -- the majority of my toppings don't change from one visit to the next, so I don't even have to look at them. Then the current deal combos come into play, and finally those last few topping choices that I sometimes agonize over (hmm... green peppers AND mushroom is much more expensive than just one or the other on a pepperoni pizza -- which do I prefer today?)

      And yeah; this system will get my order right 100% of the time, as I don't like Pizza Hut's crusts or sauces (so

      • And yeah; this system will get my order right 100% of the time, as I don't like Pizza Hut's crusts or sauces (so never make it as far as the topping selection).

        Really? Any of them? I am not a frequent Pizza Hut consumer but from my experiences as a captive audience (hotels, airports and the like) I can tell you that both vary widely. You know how most chains have one version of their products which are sold to everyone, so that they are consistent and uniform? Pizza hut ain't one of those chains. I've had drastically different crust in particular.

        • As a not infrequent visitor to Pizza Hut (because kids) I have to say that in my experience they are 100% consistent, just like McDonald's.

          This is not the same thing as saying either are very pleasant unless you're hungover and ravenously hungry.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

      Except that in this case you're just looking at everything, rather than trying to specifically select N toppings. So if you just relax and stop trying to count to N, they'll do that part for you, and you don't have to think so hard about what your Nth-most-favorite item is on the menu. In other words, I think this technique precisely solves the thing you're objecting to.

      While also being a little creepy.

      And probably offering me the bacon-ham-sausage-canadian bacon-pepperoni pizza I'd *like* to order but don'

  • Or maybe I was looking at the fly on the menu board and wondering if I wanted to eat there, and no you can't have my retina scan without permission.

  • I always wanted to live to see where technology and general human advancement would take us.

    Now that I know, I think I'll go off myself.

  • I don't remember the last time I saw a dine-in Pizza Hut; I thought they've all converted to takeout / delivery only.

    • There's one near me. Of course, the only reason I know this is because there's a good fish fry place right next door. I haven't actually entered the Pizza Hut, but can tell from the outside that it's dine in.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

        I just realized my town has a Pizza Hut the other day. I've lived here for 7 years and drive by it occasionally, but I must have blocked it out. Never even been tempted to go inside.

  • One can imagine all sorts of objections to this ("I take too long", "I like staring at onions, but I don't like eating them", etc...), however a self-reported 98% success rate -- or at least, 98% of the time they end up with a pizza with their preferred ingredients and/or that they end up really liking -- would explain why Pizza Hut decided to roll ahead with this -- seemingly weirdly ahead of its time -- tech right away.

    98% approval suggests that browsing an appetite are more firmly linked. If the numbers

    • Success rate may not really mean much. It could also mean :

      1. Toppings are in such small quantity, that too with flavour leeched out of them, that non-topping-ingredients might decide the majority of taste / satisfaction.

      2. 98% say they liked their pizza after ordering this way - but maybe they would have liked any pizza? There needs to be a control group which is served the pizza that the algorithm finds least "good" for them. The very fact that they chose to order this way might mean they are not particul

      • Somewhere like Pizza Hut isn't going to offer anything very exotic as a topping choice, so it's hardly surprising that most pizzas are perfectly acceptable.

        Unless you're a vegetarian, or allergic to tomatoes and cheese or something, any pizza they serve is going to taste pretty similar.

        Tea-smoked forest truffles, goat vindaloo and sliced durian fruit are unlikely to be options.

        • Not exactly.

          1. Somewhere like Pizza Hut isn't going to offer anything very exotic as a topping choice,
          2. so
          3. it's hardly surprising that most pizzas are perfectly acceptable.

          Doesn't follow. While both parts 1 and 3 of you sentences are correct, the "so" doesn't fit at all. Are you saying the vast majority of non-exotic pizzas in the world are acceptable? Or non-exotic-ness causes acceptability? Both are pretty difficult positions to argue for.

          Unless you're a vegetarian, or allergic to tomatoes and cheese or something, any pizza they serve is going to taste pretty similar.

          Ok, so assume no special needs like allergy or restricted diet. Still, all non-exotic pizzas don't taste similar - cheese and tomato both are non-exotic yet taste wildly different from each other.

          Only low quantity of toppings a

  • - Based on how long you looked at items, you just ordered whole menu!
    - Wait, what? I just had to read is slowly because I forgot my glasses
    - To cancel, just look at rectangle with Cancel printed inside within next 2s ...
    - Cancel, cancel, where the hell is it?!
    - This will be $1500. Thank you for using our new subconscious menu!

  • It's a Nutrimatic pizza dispenser (Score:3)

    by jfengel ( 409917 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:42PM (#48517807) Homepage Journal

    And I bet it delivers something that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike pizza.

  • Whenever I frequent a fast food joint, I have to waste plenty of time looking at pretty pictures. I'd vastly prefer if there was a text menu, preferably with sensibly categories such as main dishes, desserts, drinks and whatnots.

    • If fast food places didn't have pretty pictures on their menus, how would they show you just what your food won't look like?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

        Once upon a time I meant to build a web site that compared pictures of the food you ordered to pictures of the food you got.

          I think I was partly inspired by some McBurger that had less than 50% overlap between layers of ingredients, and a pile of ketchup blasted onto the side of the container rather than into the sandwich.

        Later I concluded I didn't have the time or energy for something that pointless.

  • This would be a great idea if... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BitterOak ( 537666 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:47PM (#48517869)
    This would be a great idea if Pizza Hut's main clientele base consisted of stroke victims who are paralyzed everywhere except for their eyes and are able to communicate only through eye movements. Last time I was in Pizza Hut, I didn't see too many such people there. So, I'm not sure what problem this technology is supposed to solve.

    • So, I'm not sure what problem this technology is supposed to solve.

      It solves the problem of dining with my brother. Who on more than one occasion finally decides what he wants after everyone has given up on him, given the waiter our orders, and had our meals served to us. It's not like he's picking his final meal or anything. I would love it if the max ordering time was 5 sec, when I'm with family.

    • It is meant to solve the single solitary problem pizza hut has ever been interested in solving: how to make more money. Just as a curiosity everyone now wants to order a pizza to see if it really works. They may keep ordering for a while before the novelyt wears off. There may be psychological biases in which people think the pizza tastes better. If nothing else, everyone is now talking about getting a pizza they will like by going to Pizza Hut.

    • It's pizza for Stephen Hawking!

  • At first I was offended, because apparently, if I like to peruse the menu, I'm some sort of "problem" that needs to be "fixed". But then I realized that I haven't eaten at Pizaa Hut in 12 years, mainly because of their factory approach to dining. Herd 'em in. Get the pizza down their throats as quickly as possible. Herd 'em out. Pizza Hut? More like Pizza Trough. Who cares what they do? Just one more reason to avoid the place.

    • At first I was offended, because apparently, if I like to peruse the menu, I'm some sort of "problem" that needs to be "fixed". But then I realized that I haven't eaten at Pizaa Hut in 12 years, mainly because of their factory approach to dining. Herd 'em in. Get the pizza down their throats as quickly as possible. Herd 'em out. Pizza Hut? More like Pizza Trough. Who cares what they do? Just one more reason to avoid the place.

      You are clearly a gentleman and a scholar like myself.

      It's Mickey D's for us, every time. Black tie only.

  • Auto sales in the future (Score:3)

    by Whatsmynickname ( 557867 ) on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:52PM (#48517915)

    Salesperson: congratulations on your new car purchase! (unknowing) Buyer: But I was just looking at this car!?! Salesperson: Yes, so our software determined you wanted to buy this car, so we've already signed you up for a loan!

    • That would be beautiful! You wouldn't have to pay the loan back because you never agreed to it. They are, however, allowed to give you that car without you buying it.

  • How do I use my eyes to tell them I want sausage, EXTRA cheese, a shitload of garlic, mushrooms on ONLY HALF of the pizza, and for them to cook it "well done" (aka, properly)?

  • function pickPizza {
        return { crust -> chewy, toppings -> [ 'pepperoni', 'extra cheese']};
    }

  • Hmmm... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "I didn't order a pizza with the tits from the cashier behind register #2?!"

  • Does that mean it knows you would much rather eat somewhere else?

    • You will be banked into facial recognition database and find Peperoni ads on your Facebook ads page. This is about facial recognition software, it's going into store cameras everywhere, and they are starting to package it as a "consumer advantage". Physical browsing is now, today, being tracked the same as web browsing. Minority Report has your pizza ready.

  • “After a fairly shaky start to the day, Arthur's mind was beginning to reassemble itself from the shell-shocked fragments the previous day had left him with.
    He had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
    The way it functioned was very interesting. When the Drink button was pressed it made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's

  • Come on, Slashdot! Google reports your online behavior to the NSA, Facebook alters your mood for their own fun and profit, and now Pizza Hut is trying to read your mind. It's getting harder and harder for us conspiracy deniers.

  • But I kept getting 1/2 clip art of a girl holding a pizza, and 1/2 copyright notice.

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