SuSuRu - Traditional food culture reimagined
Pairing interactive design, a refined atmosphere and traditional Japanese cuisine in an immersive experience
Susuru highlights the iconic Japanese Ramen Noodle tradition with interactive ordering experience through subtly integrated technology. This project pays respect to this traditional dish, often looked down upon as unhealthy fast-food, with an novel way to configure your Ramen dish and a visual animation inspired by the ingredients, challenging people worldwide to rethink both mindful eating and multi-layered Japanese culture.
The Ramen order experience
The interactive screen allows the customer to choose the ingredients for their bowl of Ramen, like type of broth and noodles, spiciness level, choice of meat, egg and other vegetables.
The machine then creates a QR code from the final order and prints it onto the chopstick sleeve. These are then handed to the customer as an order 'receipt'.
Once at the table, a camera will read the QR code, send the order and table number to the kitchen and start an animation with visuals inspired by the ingredients of this customised Ramen dish.
The dish is served within a few minutes.
The ramen ticket system
Most traditional Ramen bars in Japan have a vending machine that issues tickets for a meal. A customer selects their choice, pays for it, the machine prints the respective ticket and presents it to the staff. That way the chefs behind the bar don't have to worry about taking payments or worry about customers leaving the often very busy shops without paying for their meal.
We decided to keep this process but enhance it with an interactive ordering experience and a seamless, digital transmission of that order into the kitchen.
The order is printed onto the back of the Chopstick sleeve rather than the the paper ticket.
Picking ingredients
Most traditional Ramen ticket machines allow for customisation of the noodle dish, which we recreated in the digital experience.
Project Details
This was a group project of the Global Innovation Design Masters Programme during our placement at Keio Media University in Tokyo Japan. It was completed in a team of 4 including Janna Fuller, Edward Brial, Lucia Edde and myself. My responsibilities were focused around ideation and concept, research, visual design, brand and the design of the ordering machine.