This coffee machine won't start brewing until you talk to the person beside you

Need that caffeine fix to perk you up at that dreary early morning business conference? The Coffee Connector might just be the thing to get you going. Lending a whole new meaning to networking over coffee, the coffee machine by the Economic Development Board (EDB) will only start brewing when it identifies two people standing in front of it (watch video below). Prompting for their names to serve their coffee in personalised cups, the machine inevitably introduces the two strangers to each other. If facilitating an introduction in itself isn't enough, watching the brewing process in the towering machine while waiting for the coffee to dispense, reminiscent of a mad scientist experiment, will definitely give enough fodder to make a connection. Symbolising Singapore's role as the facilitator of strategic business partnerships, The Coffee Connector was wholly designed and constructed in a joint-effort by EDB and its agencies, The Secret Little Agency (TSLA), StrawberryFrog, and Tellart. Making its debut at The Economist Big Rethink Conference on March 13 in New York City, The Coffee Connector forged more than 200 successful connections.   Photo: EDB