Oakland is building a stadium for A’s that will be known as Cisco Field, and the builders are considering adding an interesting feature to every seat: interactive touchscreens.

The purpose of these screens is to provide information to the spectators. For example, spectators can access player stats on whoever is up at bat, or in the field. They can also call up driving routes out of the park, so that once the game is over, they can find the fastest route home.

It also has some great real-time information and services, as it can figure out where the shortest bathroom lines are. And if you want a hot dog or a cold drink, just order it up, and the refreshment man will personally come to your seat with your order.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen a stadium become more compatible with technology. I believe that one year ago, Seattle’s Safeco Field offered similar information services for their spectators, but only with the wireless Nintendo DS.

I find that this idea to be a little less practical. I can see these touchscreens becoming an easy target of vandalism. Then some poor soul at the next game will have to say, “hey, my screen isn’t working, can I use yours to get a hot dog?”

Well, the stadium builders are only thinking about this idea for now. Let’s hope they have considered all of the obvious problems before investing what will obviously be a huge chunk of change for this feature.

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