Dartmouth native Corey Yantha has launched SmartServ, a vending machine for beer and ready-made alcoholic drinks.
“We developed some really cool technology that authenticates a person,” said Yantha, who is the founder and CEO Dispension Industries Inc., which employs a team of 10 and they work closely with an engineering firm in Markham, Ont.
The vending machines scan a government ID to ensure the consumer is legal drinking age, then a facial scan compares the picture to the ID to provide a secondary level of authentication.
“And then we complete our purchase,” said Yantha. “And our machine actually cracks the can open for them. We can do a transaction under 45 seconds.”
Yantha hopes to have these machines in place at Scotiabank Centre and other venues in the near future, once they have received government regulatory approval.
In a statement to CTV News Atlantic, the N.S. Alcohol and Gaming Department said, “Further consultations and a regulatory review would be considered before any broader implementation of these machines. It’s important to note that the machines will be required to have dedicated staff to ensure that they are accurate in detecting minors.”
Each machine holds 360 cans. Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia president Andrew Tanner said an innovation like this is potentially good news for the local beer industry.
“I could certainly see it applied at larger venues, or larger areas where you get lots of lineups and you want to move people through little faster,” said Tanner.
SmartServ had a test-run for their vending machines at the MLB All-Star game in Los Angeles in 2022.
“We brought them back and we upgraded a few devices,” Yantha said.
Now, according to Yantha, the vending machine kinks are worked out, and they are ready to be deployed in Nova Scotia.