Big Brothers ‘The Wall’, using our LockBlox Vending Machine. Since the first episode on 14th July 2000, Big brother has been a gripping reality TV show that has been on television year after year. Viewers follow the fate of complete strangers who live together in a house while being filmed 24/7. Contestants are voted off one by one until there is a sole winner. A new element of the Big Brother Netherlands edition this year is ‘The Wall’ which incorporates our LockBlox Vending Machine.
The Wall
Contestants compete in difficult games and challenges during the show to win ‘Big Brother Coins’. With the Big Brother coins they earn, they can shop from The Wall. Contestants in the Big Brother house buy extras from The Wall, such as coffee beans, tasty snacks, and game elements that they can utilise throughout their participation. Some items cost more than others, so contestants have to be selective and calculated with how they spend their big brother coins.
Big Brother decided to use a LockBlox Vending Machine to perform this function as it fitted their requirements perfectly. Lot Vrieling (junior producer) said, “The LockBlox plays an important role in the program….. it compliments the needs of the residents and therefore is very popular”. The LockBlox vending machine professionally display’s the contestants desired goods while keeping the items locked away from them. Making this visually appealing for the cameras. Only opening when the correct amount of coins has been inserted.
LockBlox Customisation
The Lockblox was able to fulfil the wishes of the Big Brother team due to bespoke locker size build and customisable graphical user interface (GUI) displays. Vrieling said, “We wanted different sizes of lockers and we had to be able to adjust the content ourselves. It was also important that we could customise the look of the home screen on the front”.
Payment Method
Our LockBlox vending machines are programmed to accept cash and contactless payments in exchange for opening the selected lockers for the customer to retrieve their purchased goods. However, Big Brother needed their own unique payment system to accept their Big Brother Coins. Thankfully the vast knowledge and good work by the team at Innovend were able to offer a solution. Aart Maris (account manager) said “ That was mainly about being able to use Big Brother tokens as a means of payment” “We can make specific customer solutions because we all have the knowledge for production in-house. Even when it comes to (payment) software“.