New App Let’s You Know Whether Or Not the Club Is Jumping

There's a new mobile app out now that sounds pretty ambitious, but, in the end, if it goes nationwide, could be really cool.  It's called SceneTap, and it will let you know what's happening at bars and restaurants BEFORE you go.

The company behind it installs cameras at bars, scans the people coming in, and uses facial recognition software and biometric rhythms to predict their age and gender. That way, anyone who has the app can check out a bar before they leave the house, to make sure the crowd size, age range, and male-female ratio is where they want it to be.  The app, however,  doesn't assess how GOOD LOOKING the crowd is. (Of course, if it's late enough, you won't care.)

Here's an example.  On Friday night, a bar in San Francisco called Bar None first started using SceneTap.  By 10:00 P.M., the app rated it "Lively" . . . it was a little less than half full, had a 50-50 male-female ratio, and an average age of 22.

Of course, some people are OUTRAGED about SceneTap.  Even though it doesn't actually record anyone's face or take any personal information, they still think it's a major privacy violation.

Right now there are only cameras in a few bars in seven cities:  Athens, Georgia . . . Austin, Texas . . . Bloomington, Indiana . . . Chicago . . . Gainesville, Florida . . . Madison, Wisconsin . . . and San Francisco.

The app is free for iPhone and Android phones.  The company plans to keep on expanding to more bars and more cities.