:::

【2021 Application Example】 Unmanned Intelligent Vending Machines - Black Wo Coffee Creates Boutique Coffee in a Minute

Technology also carries the aroma of coffee!

Situated on Gaogong Road in the Southern District of Taichung, the original Black Wo Coffee store covers a space of 28 ping, filled with the scent of coffee mixed with cultural creativity and technology. Since its establishment in October 2016, Black Wo Coffee has expanded to 7 directly managed stores and 28 franchise stores across Taiwan. Among the 15,000 coffee sellers nationwide, Black Wo Coffee has risen uniquely through the use of AI technology to create an unmanned intelligent vending machine that brews exquisite and aromatic coffee in just one minute.

Black Wo Coffee's physical store creates a culturally creative and fashionable atmosphere (Image: Black Wo Coffee official website)

▲ Black Wo Coffee's physical store creates a culturally creative and fashionable atmosphere (Image: Black Wo Coffee official website)

According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Taiwanese people consume 2.85 billion cups of coffee annually, with the market size exceeding 70 billion NT dollars; Ambitiously, as per Starbucks' survey, by 2018 the overall Taiwanese coffee market reached 72 billion NT dollars and rose to 90 billion by 2020. Over the last five years, the Taiwanese coffee market has expanded annually by about 20%, showing remarkable growth potential.

Coffee demand presents incredible business opportunities, growing at a rate of 20% annually

With coffee now being a symbol of fashionable consumption in Taiwan, aside from first-tier coffee shops like Starbucks and Louisa, there are convenience stores like 7-11 and FamilyMart, and numerous boutique coffee houses scattered through the streets and alleys. How to capture consumer attention and stand out in the 'red ocean' of the coffee market requires flexibility and creativity, understanding consumer needs and tastes, which are also essential for cultivating brand loyalty.

Beyond physical storefronts, Black Wo Coffee is also actively developing digital channels. Its ecommerce platform includes the official website, PChome, momo, and group-buying hosts, providing multiple channels and ensuring steady growth in performance. Even so, the founder of Black Wo Coffee, Lin Pei-ni, continually seeks innovation. Due to the passive and scattered situation with franchise stores in the first three years, it was difficult to actively grasp market trends and the company noticed a certain lag in communicating with consumers and keeping up with brand dynamics, making it challenging to cultivate loyal brand advocates.

▲ Artisan boutique coffee is deeply beloved by consumers. (Image: Black Wo Coffee official website)

Through the AI Eagle Eye System, market intelligence costs are significantly reduced

To address the dual challenges of not being able to quickly capture market trends and high market research costs, Black Wo Coffee introduced the AI Eagle Eye System in 2020 to scout market intelligence. By comprehensively crawling articles from social websites, news platforms, and forums, automatically tagging, and suitably filtering, this system scanned 4,858 articles using 24,290 keywords, enabling precise insights into consumer preferences at minimal costs.

At the same time, after launching new products, not only can franchise stores be notified promptly, but the acceptance level of consumers can also be assessed through social platforms. It serves as a reference for whether to promote aggressively. Through the collection of data and analysis by AI algorithms, consumer-preferred flavors are selected, reducing the risks associated with new launches and increasing the success rate of new products. Therefore, in 2021, Black Wo Coffee boldly explored new markets by introducing the world's first AIoT smart coffee innovative concept in collaboration with Pxmart for the first 'Intelligent Supermarket', integrating Black Wo Coffee to create an unmanned intelligent hand-drip coffee machine for consumers to enjoy a unique flavor experience.

Insight into consumer tastes leads to the creation of AIoT Unmanned Intelligent Vending Machines

Taiwan's first Pxmart 'Intelligent Supermarket' in Neihu, Taipei introduces the world's first AIoT smart coffee concept store, able to interact with the AI smart coffee vending machine, AI hand-washing coffee machine, and AI vacuum cold brew machine through a mobile app, meeting three different coffee technology experiences in one place. The self-service area features the only unmanned intelligent coffee vending machine in Taiwan that uses chilled milk to make milk foam, selecting Black Wo's 5A grade milk, and completing the payment, grinding, and brewing all within one minute.

The first Pxmart 'Intelligent Supermarket' was established on Ruiguang Road in Neihu District, Taipei. (Image: Pxmart FB fan page)

▲ The first Pxmart 'Intelligent Supermarket' was established on Ruiguang Road in Neihu District, Taipei. (Image: Pxmart FB fan page)

The Pxmart Intelligent Supermarket features an AI smart coffee vending machine, which is operated using an app to enjoy aromatic coffee. (Image: Pxmart FB fan page)

▲ The Pxmart Intelligent Supermarket features an AI smart coffee vending machine, which is operated using an app to enjoy aromatic coffee. (Image: Pxmart FB fan page)

Now, with the addition of AI technology elements, drinking coffee is not just about having coffee; it also brings more brand-new tech experiences and conveniences to consumers.

「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only. Translation date:2024-05-19」

Recommend Cases

這是一張圖片。 This is a picture.
Testing Seat Contact Components AI Intelligent Flaw Detection

With rapid development in 5G, AIOT, automotive electronics, and other downstream sectors, the entire supply chain is expected to benefit from this consumer market As product demand momentum gradually increases, increasing production efficiency and reducing operational costs become the most important issues In order to meet the needs of customers for various packaging types, Yingwei Technology has been committed to developing highly customized test seats However, a resulting pain point is the inability to mass-produce and fully automate operations with machines some tasks still rely on manual execution In this project, the probe part of the test seat was outsourced in 2021, and under current and future large-scale demands, work hours, costs, supply, and quality are issues Yingwei faces The company achieves a defect detection rate of 9995, which seems high, but with an average inspector able to inspect 10,000 needles per day, there would still be 5 defective needles On a test seat that is only 3 cm wide with approximately 1,000 needles, just one defective needle could potentially lead to faulty testing at the customer end As the current operational mode relies on manual visual inspection, external factors such as fatigue or oversight of personnel, and subjective judgment by inspectors may lead to the outflow of defective products, which necessitates strict quality control of contact components We once sought to utilize optical inspections Rule-based for controlling the quality of appearances, but the metallic material of the contact components leads to light scattering, background noise interference, background scratches, and material issues that could result in misjudgments Therefore, we decided to look for AI technology service providers to solve our detection difficulties Developments of Dedicated AOI Line Scan Equipment To meet the needs for inspecting thousands to tens of thousands of probes within our company's IC test seats, traditional surface imaging and individual needle imaging would be too slow to achieve rapid inspection and labor-saving goals In response, the service provider proposed a trial with an AOI dedicated line scan module solution Utilizing a width of 63mm on the X-axis for reciprocal scanning of all probes on the test seat, the tests allowed for the simultaneous scanning of 8-9 probes, significantly enhancing the future detection efficiency of AOI machines This project will proceed with the aforementioned innovative Proof of Concept POC, focusing on the development of the line scanning equipment and performing imaging, learning, and training on both normal and abnormal probes provided by our company, with initial AI model training aimed at preliminary approval This project's customized line-scan imaging module Ideal future imaging result illustration A Single AI Technology Solution for MeasurementDetection Needs Unified use of AI DL CNN learning methods, instead of the current Rule-based system which necessitates defining each defect individually, to meet the needs for abrasion measurement and appearance defect detection of malfunctionsforeign objects When the same machine uses both measurement and detection technologies, not only does it increase costs, but it also affects the detection speed Hence, the service provider recommends the use of a line scan device for imaging Its resolution is sufficient for AI to simultaneously determine appearance defects and assess the condition of needle tip abrasion, as detailed below Line scan pixel imaging displaying needle tip abrasion conditions This AI detection technology meets both measurement and inspection needs for Yingwei, not only bringing more benefits to future probe testing but also introducing an innovative axis in AI technology Change the method of human inspection, enhance work efficiency and product quality After combining both hardware line scan and software AI model training approaches, we successfully ventured into new AOI detection applications Following the AI implementation POC, including the development and validation of a customized line scan module and an initial AI model, the plan is to officially develop the AOI machine next year and integrate it into the IC test seat production line Future Prospects Probe manufacturers upstream and downstream IC factory users both have needs for the AOI inspection machine upstream can ensure probe quality before leaving the factory, while downstream users can use this machine to regularly inspect the condition of numerous IC test seats in hand Given the future demands, the AOI machine is poised to have a significant positive impact on the IC testing industry in the foreseeable future 「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-12-12」

【導入案例】化身大型AIOT科技遊樂場 海科館華麗轉身好吸睛
Transforming into a Large-Scale AIoT Technology Playground: The Spectacular Makeover of the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology

Taiwan is a maritime nation When you visit the Badozi Fishing Port or Tidal Park in Keelung, do you also explore the mysteries of the ocean world at the 48-hectare National Museum of Marine Science amp Technology To get more people closer to marine technology, Keelung's Marine Museum has introduced technological services, transforming the venue into a large technology playground that delights both children and adults, fully utilizing the 'learning through play' approach After a lengthy planning process, Northern Taiwan's largest marine science museum in Keelung opened in January 2014 The museum focuses on marine education and technology, boasting Taiwan's largest IMAX 3D ocean theater The unique themes and modern viewing facilities should make it a well-known landmark in Keelung However, the original exhibition planning was static and highly specialized, lacking sufficient interaction with the public Visitors who have attended the museum also reported that the exhibits were limited and quite boring, leading to poor overall consumer experience ratings The top three dissatisfactions with the museum were weak connections to surrounding attractions, unengaging display content, and lack of exhibit material According to statistics from the Marine Museum, the ratio of local to visiting guests is approximately 64, with most foreign visitors coming from the north transportation is primarily by car and bus common types of visits include family, parent-child, and friends and the stay duration is generally 1 to 2 hours Upon deeper investigation, the top three visitor complaints were weak linkages to surrounding attractions, unengaging display content, and insufficient number of exhibits The museum analyzed potential reasons, including some displays being too specialized, making it difficult for the public to understand, and a lack of interactive elements, making the exhibition boring and the visit hurriedly brief Analysis of visitor profiles revealed that since half of the museum's visitors are locals, and accessing the museum is not so easy for out-of-towners who must travel by car or public transport, the design of the venue and exhibitions must incorporate more interactivity and intrigue to encourage locals to return and extend the duration of visitors' stays while using technological services to highlight the museum's unique features Through a recommendation from the Information Software Association, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Bureau AI team, the Marine Museum commissioned Jugu Technology to resolve the issue of uninspiring venue attractions Preliminary interviews by Jugu Technology revealed that many visitors were attracted by the architectural design of the museum, notices posted on nearby walls, flags, or events being held the most interesting feature for visitors was the 3D ocean theater, indicating that content presented through audio-video and physical scenic methods was more engaging Seven major AI technologies lead to a boost in regional tourism at the Marine Museum Through the introduction of technology services, Jugu Technology designed the 48-hectare site with seven major services AI voice tours, treasure hunt puzzle games, AI exhibit interactive revitalization, AI space exhibition interactive experience, AI crowd control, Face AI interactive experience, and AI voice customer service system By utilizing AIoT and cloud technology, they made the exhibition more interesting, not only solving the issue of boring static viewings for children but also doubling the learning efficiency and dramatically improving public perception of the Marine Museum, thus increasing visitor intent and boosting regional tourism The National Museum of Marine Science and Technology introduced seven major technological application services including AI voice guide Jugu Technology aimed to improve the space optimization of the Marine Museum, using the special exhibition of coastal birds in northern Taiwan as a prototype, integrating 'face', 'limb', 'crowd' as three main axes to enhance functionality and assist in improving the museum's application of AI Practically, the Marine Museum and Jugu Technology selected the on-site special exhibits to avoid any installation of water and electricity works or pipelines in active exhibits, thereby maintaining the quality of the viewing experience Instead, they selected exhibits that were not yet open to introduce a series of technological services tailored to the unique characteristics of the exhibits In the coastal bird special exhibition inside the Marine Museum, initial construction discussions with the curators utilized Bella X1 for a welcoming interactive introduction at the exhibition entrance This was followed by an AI-powered smart guide in both Chinese and English using X1 for narration, coupled with a fun treasure hunting stamp-collecting activity - APP X1, allowing visitors to participate in challenges Subsequently, bird species within the bird exhibition were brought to life interactively using X1, and AR scenarios X1 were introduced into the exhibition space to add elements of fun and entertainment Finally, Face AI was used to interactively test facial expressions and score smiles The gorgeously transformed Marine Museum will become the best travel destination for families with children ImageMarine Museum FB Page The AIoT services introduced by the Marine Museum could be extended to various exhibition-type museums and even static art galleries in the future, tailored to the unique characteristics of different venues They could also be promoted through government projects and related plans, aiding in rural revitalization, making visits more than just sightseeing in rural areas, and breaking free from stereotypes associated with different venues The applications of these services are broad「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」

【解決方案】連聯合國都買單 悠由數據應用運用農業數據搶攻全球商機
Even the United Nations is on board! Yoyo Data Application captures global business opportunities with agricultural data

Nearly 2,000 days in the fields have made Yoyo Data Application a top player in Taiwan’s agricultural data sector Their comprehensive grasp of crop yields, production periods, and prices has enabled them to collaborate with the United Nations The service area for agricultural land skyrocketed from 24 hectares to over 6,000 hectares in less than three years—a 250-fold increase For Wu Junxiao, founder and CEO of Yoyo Data Application, aligning with global environmental trends and becoming a data company at the intersection of climate technology and the green economy to serve the global market is his ultimate entrepreneurial goal Wu Junxiao, originally an engineer, joined the Industrial Technology Research Institute in 2010, where he honed his profound technical and data science analytic skills 'At that time, I was working in data analysis engineering, and almost all data-related materials would be directed to me Additionally, I worked on indoor cultivation boxes, planting vegetables and mushrooms, hence planting the seed of entrepreneurship by integrating agriculture with data analysis,' Wu recalls Since 2016, Wu Junxiao has been frequently visiting farms to 'embed' himself among farmers and agricultural researchers, chatting and sharing information systematically, which quickly established his agricultural know-how Solid data analysis capabilities have even convinced the United Nations In 2017, he left the Institute to start his own business and founded Yoyo Data Application in 2019 Today, many agricultural businesses are his clients, with service areas rapidly climbing from 24 hectares to over 6,000 hectares, expected to surpass 7,000 hectares in 2022 His clientele includes markets in Japan, Central America, and even entities under the United Nations like the World Farmers Organization, which utilizes the 'Yoyo Crop Algorithm System' supported by Yoyo Data How exactly does Yoyo Data Application manage to impress even UN agencies The 'Yoyo Crop Algorithm System' developed by Yoyo Data Application accurately predicts the production period, yield, and prices Firstly, due to Wu Junxiao's precise mastery over agricultural data, Yoyo Data Application's clients don't necessarily need sensors or other hardware devices 'Sensors are expensive and if you buy cheap devices, you just collect a lot of noise or flawed data, which is useless,' Wu explains He continues, 'Collecting data doesn't necessarily require sensors our data solutions can solve problems more directly and effectively' For instance, one of Yoyo Data Application's products, the Yoyo Money Report Agri-price Linebot, developed in collaboration with LINE in 2020, gathers data on origin, wholesale, and terminal prices spanning over 10 years, driven by Yoyo Data’s proprietary AI algorithms This enables the system to autonomously learn about agricultural product trading prices, using big data and AI to perform price prediction analysis, thereby helping buyers reduce transaction risks and expanding the data application to the entire agricultural supply chain Regarding banana prices, the accuracy of price predictions increased from the original 70 to 998 Wu Junxiao notes that both buyers and farmers are very sensitive to prices Now, through the Yoyo Money Report service, both buyers and farmers can precisely understand the fluctuations in agricultural product prices Yoyo Data can also provide customers with optimal decision-making advice based on predictive models for crop growth, yield, and price estimations Currently, price predictions cover 28 types of crops Precise estimates of production periods and price fluctuations allow Yoyo Data to provide differentiated services based on data analysis The 'Yoyo Crop Algorithm System' provided by Yoyo Data Application incorporates a 'Parameter Bank', usually collecting 200-300 parameters, not just straightforward data like temperature and humidity, but also data divided according to the physiological characteristics of the crops Through effective dynamic data algorithms, it can accurately calculate when crops will flower and when they can be harvested, what the yield will be, and so forth For instance, the prediction accuracy of the broccoli production period is 0-4 days, with the flowering period predicted this year to be precisely 0 days, perfectly matching the actual flowering time in the field In these dynamic calculations, a 7-day range is considered reasonable, and the average error value of Yoyo Data's predictions typically ranges from 2-4 days, with most crop production period accuracies above 80 Through effective dynamic data algorithms, over 120 global crops can have their production periods and yields accurately estimated Using these effective dynamic data algorithms can set estimates for production quantities, helping adjust at the production end Yoyo Data Application's clientele primarily includes exporters of fruit crops like pineapples, bananas, guavas, mangos, pomelos, sugar apples, Taiwan's agricultural production is highly homogenized, often leading to a rush to plant the same crops and resulting in price crashes Yoyo Data Application helps clients differentiate their offerings Thus, Wu Junxiao positions his company as a boutique digital consultant, carefully selecting clients for quality over quantity He notes that Taiwanese agricultural clients focus on how to improve yield rates, even categorizing yield rates by quality, aiming for high-quality, specialized export markets whereas international clients prioritize maximizing per-unit yields, showing different operational approaches in domestic and international markets In addition to agricultural fruit, Yoyo Data Application has also extended its services to the fisheries sector, including species like milkfish, sea bass, and white shrimp, all using the same system to establish various parameters related to the growth of fish and shrimp, such as when to feed and when to harvest, and the anticipated yield, timing, and prices Yoyo Data Application harnesses the power of data to create miracles in smart agriculture In response to the company's rapid development, Yoyo Data Application introduced venture capital funds in 2021 to expand its staff and promote its business Wu Junxiao states that in response to the global trend towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050, he plans to help clients plant carbon in the soil, effectively retaining carbon in the land while also connecting clients to carbon trading platforms, creating environmental business opportunities together Wu Junxiao says that from the start of his entrepreneurial journey, he positioned the company as a global entity, thus continuous international collaborations are planned As a data company serving a global clientele and focused on climate technology and the green economy, this represents Wu’s expectations for himself and his company's long-term goals Yoyo Data Application founder and CEO Wu Junxiao「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」