Starbucks Is Offering AR Tours of Its New, Massive Shanghai Coffee Shop It's the drink giant's latest use of tech to draw you in.
By Jon Fingas
This story originally appeared on Engadget
Starbucks has a long, long tradition of using tech to bring you into its coffee shops, and that will be truer than ever with the latest supersized Reserve Roastery location in Shanghai. The beverage behemoth will use a mobile app to offer guided augmented reality tours of the coffee-making process when the restaurant opens on Dec. 6. Point your phone at equipment like the roaster or cask and you'll get an explanation of what happens as beans eventually turn into your venti latte.
The chain is offering virtual badges for participating in the tour, and you'll get a "unique Roastery filter" to mark your trip. We're not sure who's excited to show that they've visited a Starbucks (even if it's a very elaborate one), but it at least means you'll have a virtual record of your trip.
There's no mention of whether you'll see this AR experience in other Reserve Roasteries (we've asked about future plans), but it's reasonable to expect that this won't be available at your corner Starbucks any time soon. This is more about turning your visit into a mini event and encouraging you to linger a while longer. As it is, we could see other restaurants following suit if this catches on.
