Project Overview
The concept was to elevate a cocktail experience by merging physical interaction, storytelling and embedded technology. Rather than presenting brand content separately from the bar environment, the experience embedded digital triggers directly into the rituals of making, serving and consuming drinks.
The final installation comprised three connected product experiences: an interactive mixology bar top, an NFC-enabled plinth and a Bluetooth connected coaster scale. Each part of the system had its own technical requirements, but all three needed to feel seamless within the wider consumer journey.
Denovi worked closely with SharpEnd and the brand teams to define the right technical approach, product design, physical interaction and brand representation. The result was a one-of-a-kind connected experience that combined bespoke physical fabrication with embedded systems and software.
Experience One — Interactive Mixology Narrative
The first experience used RF-enabled glasses to trigger a progressive storytelling journey. As ingredients were added, the narrative advanced automatically through the interactive bar top and an integrated display system.
To make this possible, Denovi designed a purpose-built weighing system embedded into the bar top. The system had to detect interaction states accurately enough to support the narrative flow while remaining hidden within a polished physical environment.
The bar top also incorporated NFC readers and an embedded control system responsible for managing interactions and triggering display changes. This created a tightly integrated relationship between the physical act of making a drink and the digital storytelling content shown to the consumer.
The casing, screen mount and bar top were all developed as bespoke components. Denovi completed the electronics, CAD engineering, CNC manufacture and custom PCB development in-house, enabling rapid development and tight control over the integration between hardware, physical design and software behaviour.
Experience Two — NFC Storytelling Plinth
The second experience was an NFC-enabled plinth. When a consumer placed an NFC-enabled cup onto the plinth, it triggered a brand storytelling experience on connected displays positioned around the installation.
Although simpler than the interactive bar top, the plinth still required careful experience design and robust technical execution. The interaction needed to feel immediate, reliable and intentional. Denovi delivered the NFC integration and custom plinth build as a seamless physical-digital object within the wider installation.
Experience Three — Bluetooth Connected Coaster Scale
The final experience was a Bluetooth connected scale integrated into a coaster. The purpose was to detect when a consumer’s drink was running low and allow a new drink to be delivered without the consumer needing to request it directly.
This was a compact engineering challenge. Denovi had to integrate strain gauges, a battery, sensor hardware, a Bluetooth module and custom PCB into a tightly constrained product format. The system also required firmware to interpret the weight data and communicate with a bar service application used by staff to register re-orders.
The coaster needed to feel like a natural part of the bar experience while containing a fully functional sensing and communication system. This required careful mechanical packaging, PCB layout, firmware design, battery consideration and physical design integration.
Design and Engineering Approach
Throughout the project, Denovi worked closely with the production partner to identify the right experience design, product architecture and technical implementation. The process required constant balancing of brand impact, user simplicity, hardware reliability and build practicality.
The design work moved between conceptual experience mapping and detailed engineering. The team had to consider how users would behave, how staff would operate the system, how the physical installation would be assembled, how the electronics would be protected and how the digital content would respond in real time.
Because the installation involved multiple connected product moments, consistency was important. Each touchpoint needed to feel part of the same experience, even though the technical mechanisms behind them differed.
Outcome
The project delivered a set of connected cocktail experiences that transformed passive brand storytelling into interactive physical participation. It demonstrated how carefully integrated technology can enhance a live environment when the hardware, software and physical design are developed as one system.
For Denovi, the project is a strong example of physical-digital experience engineering: custom hardware, embedded systems, bespoke fabrication, interactive software and consumer experience design brought together at speed.