iPad Kegbot Pour Beers Geek Style

Engineers at Yelp have taken their love of beer to the next level by creating an iPad kegbot for use in the office. The kegbot was created during the companies 2nd Hackathon, a event designed to allow engineers to work on idea they might have that they think could be useful for Yelp in the future.

The kegbot is essentially a kegerator, with an iPad attached to the top of it. Employees can use an ID card reader on the side of the kegbot to identify themselves, and then pour beer from the taps. The iPad application displays what the beer is, the temperature of the beer is inside the keg, and how much beer is left. In true Yelp style, drinkers can rate the beer they drink directly on the iPad attachment as well.

Interested in if there's any beer left?

The keg can be monitored from a desktop application. Users can log in from their office computer and see what beer is on tap, as well as if there's any left.

Wonder where all the beer went?

Since users scan an ID card before they pour a beer, the application also keeps track of who is drinking the beer, and how much of it they're drinking. That could come in handy when it comes times for things like, say, buying a new keg.

The iPad kegbot combines two of my favorite things in the world together: gadgets, and beer. I could see tons of practical uses for the kegbot. The fact that the bot is able to keep track of who is drinking the beer and how much could allow it to be used in a commercial atmosphere.

Imagine a hotel where you could go downstairs in the middle of the night, swipe your room key, and pour yourself a beer.

I also really like the rating option. On a small scale it would be great for offices (or hotels for that matter) to determine what beer might be the most popular when it comes time to replace a keg. On a larger scale, if the application linked with other kegbots and beer reviews it could be a great way for users to keep track of what kinds of beers they like, as well as help make suggestions based on the patterns of others in the future.

What do you think about Yelp's kegbot? Can you think of any opportunities for it to be used outside of Yelp's offices?