Editor’s note: Re-posts to correct earlier statement on HP-LG partnership. Also the Singapore Cooltown is the only remaining Cooltown worldwide.

SINGAPORE -- Imagine going up to the bar, placing your coffee mug on a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and then the coffee machine or the barista would automatically pour your preferred coffee onto the mug. No more requests for a lump or two of sugar or cream. No more verbal statements that you want café latte or espresso roast.

Pretty cool? Only if you're in Cooltown.

This and other similar technologies are currently being tested and applied at the HP Cooltown Innovation Center here. It allows customers to enter HP's highly secured multimedia environment where they can get a glimpse of the company's vision of the future -- a future that nearly depletes human interaction and man's capabilities to do things on their own.

The coffee example, for instance, works with RFID stickers attached to the bottom of the mug. Upon purchasing the RFID tags, you create a café profile with your name, image, work position and what type of coffee you usually get. Thus, in any café where they have RFID tag readers, you simply place your coffee mug on top of the reader and the barista would automatically view your profile on the LCD screen and get you your coffee.

The gadgets and devices at Cooltown include tablet PCs with an incorporated digital compass that allows the creation of 3D environments. This then allows you to navigate the area in which you are walking by simply holding up the tablet PC. There are also infrared keyboards, bluetooth keyboards, data-reading pens and sensors on document trays that record the date when a certain document is inputted or outputted.

This is not purely science fiction as written by the late great Arthur C. Clarke. Some of these gadgets are available in the market and companies such as LG have enhanced their business products. For example, as part of their showcase, LG refrigerators have LCD screens on the fridge doors, complete with Internet access and sensors that notify the user via post or email when a certain grocery item has run out.

HP Cooltown Innovation Center at Singapore actually show users what is now being embraced by customers, consumers and businesses. Although it is a "futuristic vision" on HP's end, most of these innovations and creations require less and less human skill, thought and interaction since everything is laid out and automated for you.

Imagine that. A future where technology serves you instead of the other way around. Arthur Clarke would be proud.