SceneTap is launching soon for iPhone and Android, focusing on providing up-to-date information about what’s going on in local bars. The usual stuff like menus, deals, reviews, search, and marking favourites are all there, but that’s not the most interesting part of this social network. Starting in Chicago, SceneTap will be installing cameras in participating locations, and thanks to facial recognition, they’re counting how many people are at these bars and if they’re men or women. That information is shunted out to the app so you can see which places are a good place to go to on a Friday night, and if the male-to-female ratio works in your favour. You can filter bar search results based on this data too, so you can pick places based on age range of patrons, distance from your current location, and other criteria.
The obvious question is, how comfortable are people walking into a bar knowing that they might be photographed, scanned, and have their attendance broadcast to an anonymous group of people? That’s certainly a possibility you subject yourself to whenever you step outside your home, and the data collected by SceneTap remains anonymous, but I doubt that will be enough to make everyone completely at ease. Personally, I’m fine sharing location information as long as its something I voluntarily opt into, but when it’s done without my knowledge, it’s another story. While a disclaimer sticker on the front door might keep the bar out of any legal trouble, I’m sure there some there will be some ill will from visitors who miss it. Even Google shied away from facial recognition with Goggles for the hell privacy advocates would raise.
Aside from the head-counting, the app looks like it’ll be lively social network, with all the hooks with Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare that you would expect, and a fine bar reference for the seasoned socialite. SceneTap launches this month in Chicago, with plans to expand to New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Austin, Columbus, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Diego, and Las Vegas throughout the year.