Picture Credit: Corona/Globenewswire
Face recognition? Tick. Fingerprint recognition? Check. But if you can’t speak Spanish, you ain’t getting a drink from this vending machine.. Why? Because the vending machine checks your Spanish pronunciation before it lets you get at the goodies. It’s a promotional vending machine from Corona, and it asks potential users to order a Hard Seltzer Limonada in Spanish – and they have to get the pronunciation spot on before a can is dispensed.
The pop-up curiosity is situated on the Las Vegas strip and according to the press release, the vending machine asks consumers to order their drink in Spanish by saying “Dame una Corona Hard Seltzer Limonada, por favor.” The machine listens to the pronunciation and if correct (the company didn’t specify what technology is being used to determine proper pronunciation), it dispenses a sample can. If the pronunciation is incorrect, users are given a one-month subscription to the language learning app Duolingo. As we live in Spain, giving away a free drink to encourage proper pronunciation seems like a genius idea to us.
Except, in our neck of the woods, the vending machine would probably require us to speak Valenciano, which would be a bit like testing Old Etonians on their ability to speak perfect Scouse. Oh well… Mucha suerte!
For more (sensible) vending stories, check out Planet Vending
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