Custom Multimedia Solutions for an Interactive Cafe

Our team delivered a complex .NET-based multimedia system that unites the cafe managers, administrators, waiters and visitors in a digital space where each user group has access to a limited set of functions.

The solution automates essential workflows, such as order submission and processing, thus facilitating and accelerating waiters’ work and minimizing human error. Menu orders are made on individual interactive terminals, where guests can also select and configure brand cars and request a test drive at the nearest dealer. The cafe visitors can also play games, connect with their friends on social networks, or watch content.

Overall, the designed solution offers relevant functionality to 4 main user groups:

• Visitors can order food and watch entertaining videos.
• Waiters can process orders and serve clients faster.
• Menu managers can update and modify the menu.
• Admins can monitor the system’s operation and control its performance.

Iflexion developed a module that enables the cafe visitors to look through the menu, submit food orders, navigate through social networks, watch videos, and play games while waiting for their orders. Visitors can use these features sitting at their tables with built-in touchscreens.

As the Customer planned to make the bar counter interactive too, the developers adapted the implemented dinner table module to fit the screen dimensions of the bar counter terminals. This allowed them to implement the interactive dinner tables’ functionality to the bar counter.

Iflexion’s .NET development team implemented a powerful tool allowing the cafe staff to improve the level of customer service significantly. Thanks to the automated order submitting, processing and billing, waiters can now serve customers faster and minimize possible mistakes or misunderstandings. The waiter’s panel displays the entire table map and shows the status of every table (vacant/reserved/order accepted/waiter call, etc.)

Apart from that, we implemented a user-friendly content management solution that enables the staff to instantly change and update the menu.

Our team developed a separate module for managing the system settings. The module includes the following features:

• User account management
• Security management
• Server setup, recovery, and backup management

The interactive screen placed in the cafe shows newly generated content including:

• Instagram feed with images containing a special hashtag.
• Product configurator allowing visitors to find a car that suits their tastes and preferences.
• Video player running a list of branded videos.

The functionality of the wall is available for visitors in the kiosk mode only. Touching the wall, the cafe’s visitors can scroll the Instagram feeds, play the branded videos and select and order products. If the wall is inactive, the system demonstrates the Customer’s promotion videos in the automatic mode.

Our team also developed a module for the smart panel located in the middle of the cafe. Apart from providing gaming and car configuration features, the module interacts with the video wall, thus being an alternative way of managing the wall’s content.

Tasked with user experience personalization, Iflexion’s team employed technology that analyzes the personality of guests based on their facial expression and suggests car models based on the analysis results. For this purpose, we integrated the solution with third-party libraries for the webcam face recognition. Guests can edit the details of the proposed car model, and then contact the nearest dealer to order a test drive.

As the solution represented several separate modules, the team went on with integrating these modules into a single system. Leveraging both .NET software development and integration expertise, Iflexion enabled interaction between different modules and ensured smooth integration of heterogeneous data generated simultaneously on different devices implemented in the cafe.