New Martini® Smart Cube Technology Makes Waiting At The Bar A Thing Of The Past

02 Sep 2016

From, waiting at the bar is a thing of the past thanks to new, Smart Cube technology from Martini®. The traditional ice cube shaped device is added to your drink in addition to regular, square ice cubes. As you consume your drink, the Martini® Smart Cube uses Bluetooth® technology to anticipate when your drink is finished and communicates with the bar in real-time. Staff can prepare drinks in advance so you don’t have to wait. It also keeps track of the number of drinks you’ve consumed to encourage responsible drinking. Created by Martini, the world’s leading vermouth and best-selling sparkling wine brand, and their agency partner Amv Bbdo, the Martini Smart Cube will be premiered at the Terrazza Martini Darsena, at the Italian F1 Grand Prix at Monza this weekend. The Martini Smart Cube was created with advanced design software and the final product cases were injection-molded in food-safe resin. As well as providing its real-time ordering technology, it also functions as a traditional ice-cube, thanks to Aerogel, a technology created by NASA, which keeps the temperature of the cube cool, and allows it to stay buoyant.

“At Martini, we believe that time with friends is time well spent. Our Smart Cube technology means that you can do just that instead of queuing at the bar,” says Laila Mignoni, Creative Excellence Director, Martini. “There’s huge potential for innovation within the beverage industry and this is just the beginning.” James Rowley, Director of Creative Technology at Amv Bbdo, adds, “Creating an ice-cube packed with technology presented some difficult challenges. Bluetooth signal strength is reduced significantly when immersed in liquid. But by tweaking the power and carefully positioning the antenna we managed to get the range to about 30 metres, even in a busy bar environment.” The Martini Smart Cube will be trialed across the Terrazza Martini pop up activity during Grand Prix races.

How the Martini® Smart Cube technology works

Prototype ice-cube cases were developed using advanced 3D modelling software and then produced using 3D printing. The final product cases were injection-molded in food-safe resin and sealed with silicon
The Smart Cube has sides of 25mm in length and communication between the cube and the bar is via Bluetooth to an iPad Pro equipped with a bespoke web application
The iPad Pro web app stores data on the cloud and features analytics to track drink activity; for example, number of Bianco vs Rosso ordered
Consumers are only able to order up to two drinks with the Smart Cube
Detecting drink levels is achieved using capacitive liquid sensors within the cube case
When a drink reaches a low level, the cube’s transmission beacon switches off momentarily and the LEDs in the ice cube pulse in a unique colour sequence
The LED and beacon are controlled from a bespoke designed printed circuit board (PCB) and powered by a small battery
NASA technology in the form of Aerogel has been used to ensure Smart Cube also functions as an ice cube by keeping it cool
The Aerogel also serves as a floatation aid, keeping the beacon horizontal, which is important for signal transmission strength

Potential applications of the Smart Cubes

Detect when drinks have been tampered with
Detect alcohol content of drink
Can measure consumption
Track number of drinks ordered, to help businesses with stock take and measuring drink popularity
Group cubes to help locate the friends for whom you ordered the round of drinks

Source: Martini