The Roboexotica Festival, with its 25+ year legacy, stands at the forefront of merging cocktail robotics, art and technology. It not only showcases innovative technologies and creative cocktail concoctions but also offers a diverse program of workshops, performances and a vibrant Nightline. Emphasizing international artist collaborations and highlighting past projects, the festival celebrates the spirit of DIY culture, engaging students and professionals in technology and design to explore, build and innovate in an environment that values experimentation and the potential of “what could be.”
In the course “Interaction Design” during the 5th semester, students were challenged to develop a project for Roboexotica. The outcome was six very distinct interactive installations that explore the fusion of drinks, psychology, technology, and sound. For four days these projects were presented at the Kunsttankstelle Ottakring in Vienna, where the students had the opportunity to meet other like-minded enthusiasts and discuss their creations. Three of the projects went on to win the Annual Cocktail Robot Awards (ACRA) 2023 in different categories.
Robotender
Nahuel Monina, Santiago Conturso Molina, Dorota Bičárová
Meet Robotender, your go-to companion for quick and fun drink decisions. No more endless pondering over the menu! Engage in a series of playful questions to discover the drink that best suits your mood. Get ready for a relaxed evening of drinks and games, where your choices reflect your personality. Cheers to a night of good company and personalized sips with Robotender!
Sipsynth
Larissa Rodiga, Christoph Rohrer, Verena Schneider, Benedikt Lechner
Embark on a sensory journey with Sipsynth, an innovative cocktail robot designed to revolutionize the bar and restaurant experience. At its core is the exploration of cocktails through sound. Using a MIDI Sprout biodata sonification sensor, the unique sounds of each cocktail ingredient are captured and translated into an auditory symphony.
Drinking through the Decades
Linda Wertschnig, Eva Maria Mayer
This project explores the most popular cocktails from the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s and 2000s through an immersive scrolling website, allowing you to fully dive into each decade. With distinctive illustrations and animations, the website captures the essence of each era. Scrolling is controlled through a novel interaction—an hourglass attached to a wall-mounted wooden structure. Depending on the hourglass’s position, scrolling either moves up or down, or stops completely.
Bar Therapist
Tobias Schittenkopf, Tanja Kobler, Florian Thausing
Introducing the first AI-powered (and alcohol-powered) therapist, proving once and for all that alcohol is a solution! Open up to the Bar Therapist about any problem in life, and it will use the latest AI technology to “fix” your life with the right cocktail. Therapy has never been so easy—and delicious.
Match Your Cocktail
Eliska Zemanska, Vanessa Mitschdörfer, Ruben Blickle
This project is a tablet-based application where users can swipe left or right to browse through different ingredients. Swipe left if you don’t want the ingredient in your cocktail or swipe right if you like it. The goal is to create your favorite cocktail by making these simple swipe decisions.
Drink of Fortune
Rahel Schuiki, Lea Wallgram, Emilie Wippel
Drink of Fortune is an Instagram filter that can predict your future: your face is scanned, your fortune is read and a tarot card is revealed. The illustrated card depicts one of six iconic cocktails and tells you which drink lies in your near future. For an added bonus, the actual cards can be picked up and taken home or to your nearest bar. The back of each card holds the recipe for your drink, so nothing stands between you and your fate!
Project supervision: Anika Kronberger with the support of Didi Mosbacher and Christoph Neuhold.
