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The Radical Collaboration:
Mad Neuroscientist
Inventive Roboticist
Cicerone-Certified Beer Maestro

Client:
Marriott International (at first)

No one ever uses neuroscience for anything fun... like pouring beer”

These were the fateful words muttered by our Founder and Chairman Seth Jackson as he waited in a queue for the bar on a rainy night in Bristol, circa 2016. He was at his local with two of his associates - a slightly mad neuroscientist and the West of England’s leading roboticist.
Beers in hand and back at the table, he posed the question - “why can’t we build something which allows you to pour a beer without the use of your hands?”

HOMER 1.0

Beers in hand and back at the table, he posed the question - “why can’t we build something which allows you to pour a beer without the use of your hands?”. A few drinks later and some quick radical collaboration-esque ideation and they settled on a solution - the world's first mind-controlled, beer-pouring robot. Most pub chat stays in the pub, but this was an exception. 6 months later, with the addition of a Cicerone Certified Beer Maestro to the team, the first prototype was built and aptly named Homer (after the Simpsons character, not the author of the Iliad (though I’m sure he would’ve loved it had he got the chance to try it)).

Homer used EEG technology, in the form of a headset, to track electro pulses passing through a participant's forehead to ascertain how focused they are. The more focused they are, the better their pint is poured. A simple premise; a frothy mind = a frothy (and slightly embarrassing) pint.

We loved it so much that we turned it into its own business unit - Thirsty Thoughts. To date, Thirsty Thoughts have served punters in 14 countries for over 45 different clients, serving 114,000 mind-controlled beers in the process.

After 3 weeks spending all his time honing his mind-controlled pint-pouring skills, Seth realised that it might be a good idea to give someone else a go. Homer was a huge success at beer conferences and networking events across the UK (it’s not that flattering really, we were giving out free beer). Regardless, Marriott came knocking and wanted us to develop the robot into a slicker model for a series of TedX events across Europe.

PUSH
FOR PUB

The Radical Collaboration:
Creative Technologist
IoT Champion
User Experience Expert

Client:
Kozel
Manifest PR

Kozel Tap Out

The campaign gained national attention, with coverage in PR Week, CNet, Metro and the Sun (among others). Chris McLardie, Kozel’s brand director, said: "Life’s little complications can sometimes get in the way of a good time. Whether it is a cancelled train, a last-minute 5.30pm meeting, or that report your boss requests as you walk out the door, obstacles can derail our best-laid plans. The Kozel Tap Out button is your ultimate shortcut to good times, getting you and your friend to the pub in comfort and style. Push the button and you could be enjoying a delicious Kozel in minutes. No stress, no fuss, just fun."

Hey Team ST,

We’ve had a strange thought which we thought you might be up for. With all this technology, we think it’s time someone came up with a way to transport you straight from the office to the pub on a Friday evening. Kozel wants it too, can you build it?”
‍

A teleporter to utopia you say? Well, last we checked teleporters weren’t a thing. But we’ll be damned if we turn down a challenge, so it was time to get creative. A radical collaboration workshop was in order. Professionals from a whole host of disciplines attended to help us come up with a novel, engaging and (most importantly) possible, ideas for the campaign: a drone that flew you to the pub at high speeds, anyone? Or maybe a tunnel straight from the office floor to the edge of the bar? Not quite there, but we forged forward. Our IoT Champion stepped up. How about a button that sits on your desk that when pressed will order you, and a buddy of yours in a separate location, Ubers to your nearest pub that serves Kozel.

That was it, that was the idea. We called it “Tap Out”. We got cracking; designing, prototyping and building an office-friendly button that linked with both the Uber API and Google Maps to provide a seamless experience from final email to first sip. The final product was to be sent out to three 'Beer Button Bashers' so they could be tested, with the view of rolling out the Internet of Things button the following year - because who doesn’t want the closest thing to a teleporter sitting on their desk?

ANOTHER BLOODY POPUP

EXPERTS IN RADICAL COLLABORATION

STRANGE THOUGHTS INVENTORS OF THE INCONCEIVABLE STRANGE THOUGHTS INVENTORS OF THE INCONCEIVABLE