[vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_4vOUDImE”]
In this series of blogs, we want to take a step back from the technology and talk about people and their interactions and engagement with innovative vending machines. Stories ranging from cameras in vending machines to talking vending machines, we will talk about it all. There is still a lot of life in the vending industry, and we want to showcase some of the most unique experiences people with have with something as ubiquitous and convenient as vending machines. In this instance, a Coke vending machine brings two countries together.
A Coke vending machine helps put politics and history aside
There have been strained relations between India and Pakistan for about six decades, and even though both countries and people share a lot between each other, there have been controversial events that have separated them with suspicion and mistrust.
There have been attempts to bring peace between the countries, many of them involve politics and high government officials. However, most of those attempts have been largely unsuccessful to bring the two countries closer together. All of this has a strong effect on people, and it shapes the way they view each other. What will it take to pull people together?
By the example in the video above, all it takes is a Coke vending machine, an Internet connect, and cameras to change some opinions and bring people closer together.
Coca-Cola put a Coke vending machine in Lahore, Pakistan, and another in New Delhi, India, and, according to fastcocreate.com, they used active shutter 3D technology to capture people standing in front of the Coke vending machine on both sides and broadcast the video on the machines in both countries. People in Pakistan were able to see people in India and vice versa. The screen on the machine was also a touch screen, offering the opportunity for people to “touch” each others hands, dance, draw peace signs and happy faces together, and generally interact with each other.
When the machines first turned on, people immediately started to interact with the Coke vending machine, and there were smiles, laughter, and dancing. Indians and Pakistanis were able to interact with each other without the mistrust or the suspicion that has plagued relations between the two countries. People could just be people and enjoy each others company while congregating around a vending machine.
In this example, people engaged with each other via a vending machine. It played a 
part in bringing two peoples together, even in a small way, but imagine what this kind of technology could do in different places all over the world. A vending machine with this same 3D and camera technology in different places all over the US could increase engagement and sales of a vendor’s products. It will be a memorable experience for people, and they will more than likely return to that coke vending machine in the future to engage with it more.
Considering it in a simpler fashion, vending machines with touch screens could also give customers more information to interact with, such as advertisements, web browsing, or detailed nutritional information. There are many more functions for touch screens on vending machines, but for this vending machine in Pakistan and India, though, we can see how technology is bringing people together.
Innovations like this peace-bringing Coke vending machine are going to take vending to the next level, and we at Parlevel Systems are excited to be a part of this with the rest of the industry. Check back with us as we will talk more about the vending industry and innovations that can change the vending business for the better.
