SILICON VALLEY, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – The fast food industry is going high-tech, thanks to many innovations introduced by Silicon Valley companies.

McDonald’s has just unveiled its first drive-thru that enables the hearing-impaired to use sign language when ordering their burgers and fries.

The new technology uses a two-way camera at the ordering station where McDonald’s  trained staff can see and  be seen by customers. They communicate by sign language.

McDonald’s biggest competitor, Jollibee, is not far behind in using technology.  The Philippine-owned fast food restaurant has gone multilingual as a way to attract a more diverse clientele.

When ordering at the counter or at the drive-thru where available, customers speak into a portable tablet, with Google Translate app installed, ordering in their choice of language.  The computer then detects the language and translates the order for the Jollibee staff. Monolingual staff can now take the orders in any language — from English to Spanish, to French, while non-Tagalog customers can order in a breeze —  in their own language!

The competition heats up between McDonald’s and Jollibee!