A one-of-a-kind pool table that turns bottles into currency The Problem: Stones’ business is driven by coin-operated tables, but their biggest revenue driver comes from promotions by alcohol brands. However, brands were choosing to promote in newer clubs, contemporary venues, and at flashy events. Stones needed to innovate. They needed a promotional concept to attract brands through the door again. Insight: Stones is good at two things: pool and beer. So what if we could combine them into a powerful promotional vehicle? Pivotal Idea: We took a standard Stones pool table and reworked it to use beer bottles instead of coins to release the balls. Through research and development we identified that every bottled beverage has a unique RGB colour signature. So we replaced the standard coin release mechanism with one that holds a bottle instead. This new mechanism uses a Light Dependant Resistor to recognise changes in light and intensity from bottle to bottle. Meaning the Stones BOT can recognise a specific brand, and when it does it triggers a custom-made motor to release the balls. Because it can be calibrated to recognise specific brands, Stones can change the brand on promotion whenever they want to. All consumers need to do is buy the brand on promotion, place the bottle in the slot and enjoy their free game of pool.
