“Vanta” – Designing the Future of Beverage Experiences: Vending + Humane AI

As Director of Product Design, I helped reimagine the vending machine with a groundbreaking AI-powered interaction model. In partnership with Humane.ai and “Cola’s” global design leadership, we created a prototype where customers could have a natural conversation with the machine to generate a completely unique flavor in real time—an experience blending industrial design, AI, and sensory delight.

Before (Challenge) → After (Solution)

Interactive vending machines felt dated—large touchscreens dominated the UI, and interactions lacked magic or personalization. → Designed a flowing, ethereal exterior and a touchless conversational interface to create surprise and emotional engagement.

No system existed for dynamically generating custom beverage recipes based on contextual cues. → Leveraged Humane.ai and “Cola’s” proprietary AI to develop new “Vanta” flavors with names, descriptions, and moods.

Demonstrating multimodal conversational UX was difficult using traditional prototypes. → Developed “animatics”, blending animated UI and video of users interacting side-by-side to bring AI flows to life.

How We Got There

Collaborated with the Industrial Design team at frog and Humane.ai’s full design and development team to align on technical and creative possibilities for multimodal AI.

Worked closely with “Cola’s” global head of creative and AI, as well as the heads of industrial design for Cola’s interactive vending machine.

Designed and prototyped:

• Conversational AI interface, allowing users to request classic flavors or create custom Vanta combinations.

• Ambient industrial design, with flowing shell and hidden projections replacing traditional “giant iPad” screens.

Pioneered a new storytelling tool: animatics—a side-by-side video format blending animated UI flows and live video of users speaking to the machine. This approach enabled stakeholders to experience the conversational interaction in a realistic, human-centered way.

Innovative Deliverables

Conversational AI Flow: User engages in back-and-forth to create a custom “Vanta” flavor.

Ambient Shell Design: Flowing, ethereal exterior design hides screens until users approach.

Projection-Mapped UI: Futuristic interaction paradigm eliminates reliance on touchscreens.

Industrial Design Collaboration: Harmonized physical form and digital interface into a unified product experience.

Animatics Demonstration: Side-by-side UI animation and user interaction video showcasing multimodal design.

Bringing Conversational AI to Life

We invented a new storytelling format—animatics—to demonstrate the vending machine’s multimodal AI experience.

What it is:
A side-by-side video technique blending animated UI flows with real video of users interacting and speaking to the interface.

Why it matters:
This approach enabled cross-functional teams and executives to feel the experience of conversing with the vending machine, long before manufacturing, making the concept tangible, emotional, and easy to champion.

Impact:

• Accelerated stakeholder buy-in for a futuristic interaction paradigm.

• Provided a blueprint for demonstrating multimodal AI products in other industries.

Impact

Result → Outcome

Delivered a fully interactive prototype blending AI and industrial design. → Positioned “Cola” to explore a new generation of vending machines with reduced reliance on touchscreens.

Developed animatics to showcase multimodal conversational UX. → Enabled leadership and cross-functional teams to understand and buy into the futuristic experience.

Sparked ambitions to repurpose this unique experience for future initiatives. → Project remains a standout example of brand-driven AI innovation in consumer spaces.

“We invented a new way to showcase conversational AI experiences with animatics—blending UI animation and video of human interaction into one seamless story.”