The project team’s expertise in user experience and emerging technologies brought a new approach to the communications challenge at hand. Working on several iterations of interactive flow, the team arrived at the concept of the Coffee Connector: an eye-catching coffee machine that fluidly encourages networking with fellow conference attendees, while supporting the Singapore EDB’s core messages through interaction and form. The Coffee Connector brews a cup of coffee only when attendees pair up, and guides them–using touch-screen prompts and the brewing process–through a conversation that leads to new connections and networks.

The physical design of the Coffee Connector was inspired by the beauty and function of a high-powered jet engine, and paid homage to coffee makers everywhere by showcasing the acts of grinding, boiling, steeping and extracting. We worked with high-end furniture designers and manufacturers to create an object that seamlessly enabled the user experience, and captured the attention of the executive level conference attendees.

The Coffee Connector is capable of brewing hundreds of cups of coffee without maintenance or intervention, and operates using a local network inside the machine that allows a central server to receive and send data between displays, sensors, liquid pumps, motors, the printhead, and more.

The Coffee Connector made its first appearance at The Economist Big Rethink Conference on March 13 in New York City, and will be used again at events worldwide. Featured in headlines ranging from the insightful (“The LinkedIn Of Coffee Machines,” PSFK) to the ironic (“Machine That Makes You Mingle Before Coffee Is An Introvert Torture Device,” PopSci), the Coffee Connector’s reach extended far beyond the event itself and drew wide attention towards the Singapore EDB’s mission and messages.