Way ahead of its time: The Remote Lounge NYC – Doc Pop’s Blog

The Remote Lounge was a high-tech bar in NYC’s Bowery District from 10/2001 to 11/2007. The bar’s gimmick was that it was packed full of monitors and closed-circuit television cameras.

Anyone in the bar could control each CCTV camera via any of the terminals located throughout the establishment, thanks to their servo-mounted design. Each terminal had a joystick (for controlling a camera), a camera button (which would capture an image and upload it to the RemoteLounge.com), a next button (for switching to another camera), a chat button, and a landline phone.

So you could cycle through the bar until you found someone sitting near a camera, then you could request to chat with them via the phone. Sometimes, as you were watching a scene, your video camera would start to move, and you’d realize someone else was watching and controlling the same camera that you were.

— Read on docpop.org/2013/10/way-ahead-of-its-time-the-remote-lounge-nyc/