
Dydo Drinco, a Japanese beverage maker, is creating personalized vending machines for companies that will greet customers using their boss’s voice, the Japan Times reports.
The company, which mainly sells coffee, has programmed vending machines to thank customers and say things like, “You must be tired.” Dydo’s website states that messages will be different based on conditions, such as the time of day, or the season.
Dydo began this initiative on Aug. 6 when it installed six vending machines at MK Co., a taxi fleet operator based in Kyoto. The machine speaks to customers in the western Japanese dialect used by Nobuaki Aoki, the company’s president. The messages that this particular machine delivers are, “Drive safe without any accident” and “Groom yourself well and smile.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Cecily Strong on Goober the Clown
- Column: The Rise of America’s Broligarchy
Contact us at letters@time.com