Online dating service Match.com will launch an unusual dating scheme at a pop-up coffee shop in London next week. ‘Espresso Yourself’ will serve coffees topped with 3D printed foam selfies of eligible Match members, giving caffeine lovers a chance to find their soulmate while sipping.
In what is almost certainly a UK first, and perhaps an anywhere first, online dating service Match.com has turned to 3D printed coffee foam to help lonely Londoners find their soulmate.
On January 19-20, the hugely popular online service will launch “Espresso Yourself,” a temporary coffee shop in Shoreditch, East London, where singletons can order their coffee topped with a 3D printed foam image of an eligible Match.com member.
The café will serve a “menu” of eight different members, four male and four female.
If the idea of 3D printed coffee sounds unfamiliar to you, then you’ll need to rack your brains for memories of last year’s CES.
It was during that event that Ripple Maker, a latte art 3D printer, wowed crowds with its inkjet-style coffee deposition system that could accurately print faces, logos, text, and more onto latte foam.
The unique machine won the Last Gadget Standing prize, and was released commercially in February. It uses special “pods” filled with coffee powder that are then electronically deposited like ink or filament across the surface of a foamy coffee.
Luckily for single coffee addicts in the East London area, some PR genius at Match saw the potential of the Ripple Maker, and decided to set up Espresso Yourself, a (sadly) temporary scheme that will grace the Shoreditch Boxpark (a pop-up mall made up of shipping containers) next week.
Customers can choose one of the eight printable faces before ordering, after which they will receive their special 3D printed coffee in a cup that contains further details about their chosen singleton, including a link to their online profile.
Although Espresso Yourself will only be open next Thursday and Friday at the Shoreditch Boxpark, the scheme is drumming up a lot of interest on social media, and would surely arouse interest from lonely hearted folk in other countries, should Match decide to let them “espresso themselves” too.
Fortunately, whatever the online dating service chooses to do, the Ripple Maker is here to stay. At present, the machine is available to coffee shops in the US, Canada, Korea, Singapore, and parts of China, though its manufacturer, Ripples, is planning an expansion to further countries this year.
