BAOverse
Pioneer the digital restaurant experience:
Bridging the gap between on- and offline, giving users the opportunity to select their favourite BAO character and explore the BAOverse
1. Project overview
This autumn, BAO and HATO are game-ifying the restaurant experience by launching a unique interactive app, allowing diners to enter the BAOverse for the very first time. Created in collaboration with design studio HATO, the first-of-its-kind app launched in October 2022. The app will pioneer the digital restaurant experience and bridge the gap between on- and offline, giving users the opportunity to select their favourite BAO character and explore the BAOverse. Each character can earn the digital currency of BAOcoin, and unlock new levels to receive secret perks and upgraded benefits which translate into real life experiences.
A customer selecting their own avatar at the BAO Noodles Bar at Shoreditch, London 
Browsing the interactive map at the BAO Noodles Bar at Shoreditch, London 2. Restaurant experience reimagined
"The BAOverse is the first, pioneering building block in the revolution of the BAO restaurant digital experience. The challenge of combining digital experiences and technology with real-life restaurants is the risk that it takes away from the user’s experience and enjoyment, however this showcases how a digital experience can actually add to the joy of dining and further relationships with customers,” explains co-founder Shing Tat Chung. “As time goes on and the app develops, our ambition is for the physical BAO experience to translate seamlessly to the digital world. For example, if a user purchases a T-shirt through Convni store in real life, we are working for that to be reflected in the app so that their avatar in the BAOverse will immediately be able to wear a digital version too. I am also particularly excited that the app rewards you when you dine alone.” explains Kenjiro Kirton, co-founder of HATO.
3. A gamified visual direction
Taking the form of a pixel city brought to life by the art of Marcelo Colmenero, the BAOverse embodies BAO’s signature retro gaming graphics, with each BAO site represented as a different building on a bustling downtown street. BAO Noodle Shop features a steaming bowl of noodles perched atop its roof, while a billboard illustrated with a pillowy BAO marks out the BAO Mary site. Convni store is just down the road from the high-rise Rewards Centre, where diners access each new reward that comes their character’s way.
The BAOverse map — an evolving animated pixel city depicting the different locations of BAO restaurants across London. Users are able to explore each location in the app. 
Library of avatars and icons created for the app. Users are able to unlock new avatars as they level up. 4. User journey and production
In the BAOverse, users will level up their ‘passport’ by visiting new sites, working their way towards BAOverse Citizenship and unlocking new perks and benefits along the way. This might be a £5 cocktail, or the ability to skip the queue during busy times. Designed as an interactive digital layer to enhance real world experiences at BAO, users receive an initial allowance of 300 BAOcoin, the digital currency of the BAOverse. Every pound spent at BAO earns users BAOcoin which can be spent on digital items which are then traded for their real life counterparts on future restaurant visits, such as a favourite BAO or one of BAO’s signature beers. The app has been designed to give BAO visitors meaningful rewards; by regularly claiming BAOcoin and taking advantage of bonuses throughout the BAOverse, app users can increase their spending power in BAO by as much as 20%.
To bring the strategy to life, the production team realised none of the off-the-shelf or whitelabel product on the market suits the specific needs of this app. To establish a platform on top of the existing restaurant operations, the production team has developed a custom backend using Google Firebase. The app's core operations are handled by a series of custom NodeJS running on Firebase Cloud Functions, creating a central hub that communicates between the restaurant's existing EPOS (electronic point-of-sales) and Voucher system in order to retreive and process all order data on the fly.
A set of bespoke algorithm is also in place to facilitate the running of BAOcoin, the custom point system, and the dynamic rewards formula. A headless CMS (content management system) is set up to enable the operation team at BAO to manage the app content, configure vouchers, and create rewards logic with hundreds of different combinations based on conditions such as dates, time, covers, spending, visit history and locations.
5. About BAO
BAO is a cult Taiwanese restaurant in London with four restaurants having opened its first restaurant in Soho in 2015. The BAOverse is an interactive restaurant experience app which invites the customer into the restaurant’s digital world where the user can learn more about the brand, the restaurants, hear about news and take on challenges. The customer is rewarded for exploring the world where each location represents a different slice of Taiwanese Culture. Converting the collected currency into cool rewards.
The BAOverse is the first app from Not in Game, the new hospitality tech platform from Ken Kirton of HATO and BAO co-founder, Shing Tat Chung. “Not in Game dissolves the boundary between digital and physical experiences. In this day and age we all have identities in both realms, and we have always been interested in using technology that connects the two. We're really excited to disrupt the loyalty app industry, by creating experiences that are more relatable to both customer and restaurant and have developed a series of features that connect the digital and physical selves.” says Ken.
Concept and strategy
BAO
HATO
Not in Game
Design
HATO
MATHs
Digital production and development
HATO
Artworks and animations
Marcelo Colmenero
The BAOverse is available on App Store
