There’s Costa Coffee machine that plays creepy coffee shop noises
“I’ve found the worst thing in the world,” tweets Alistair Coleman. “It’s a Costa coffee machine that plays coffee shop noises while it makes your drink, so you can pretend you’re not all alone at the 3rd floor coffee machine… There’s no fanfare at the end. The music and sound effects just stop abruptly, and you are alone with your paper cup coffee.”
Presenting the Marlow coffee machine, with noises which, according to Costa, “recreate the atmosphere of one of our lively high-street coffee shops”:
I’ve found the worst thing in the world – a Costa coffee machine that plays coffee shop noises while it makes your drink, so you can pretend you’re not all alone at the 3rd floor coffee machine. pic.twitter.com/t94JrTLlLN
— Alistair Coleman (@alistaircoleman) August 27, 2018
What noises made the cut was something most likely picked by Atomhawk, the company hired to make the vending machines. Do you go with the clutter of knives and spoons, the gurgle and grind, or include a choice bit of gossip from parents grabbing a cup of coffee and spite on the school run? According to the Atomhawk website, it’s created “a next-generation self-service coffee experience”.
Costa approached Atomhawk to help define the technology, customer experience and branding for this unique coffee machine, as well as to design the UI and UX for the machine’s 28″ capacitive touchscreen; delivering an intuitive interface and a catalogue of dynamic branding animations that attract users to the machine from afar.
The machine also contains a sophisticated sound system and facial recognition technology powered by Intel’s AIM Suite…
Atomhawk has a wealth of experience developing UI for games on all platforms, and that experience was brought to bear on a new audience with the CEM-200.
You want more? You used to just be able to see your face reflected in the kettle. Now you can see the future. This is intelligent coffee – and it’s not a little bit creepy:
Atomhawk went to Costa’s Flagship store in Kensington to film footage for the ‘attract mode’ video that plays whenever the machine senses a user is not present.
This dreamlike sequence mixes diverse themes; Costa’s Italian heritage, gourmet coffee, the true café experience and more, into a video that draws users to the machine.
Is that what you dream about?
Posted: 3rd, September 2018 | In: Strange But True, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
