An iPad app I worked on a little while ago has recently gone live at a popup store in Changhi Airport: Glenfiddich Residence. This was a little different to the work I usually do as it isn’t for distribution on the App Store or ad hoc for enterprise but for a single iPad locked in a display stand. The app is part of a large installation to showcase a limited edition of Glenfiddich which is available exclusively at Changhi Airport. The single cask¹ that has been selected by Glenfiddich is on display within a specially constructed glass chamber that showcases the weather and atmospheric conditions of the distillery in Dufftown, Scotland.

The iPad app allows for customers to see the current conditions in Dufftown including temperature, wind speed and direction, weather conditions, and the local time. This is paired with multiple sound effects which match with the weather conditions². The app also talks with a control PC via a direct socket connection over WiFi in order to control the weather effects within the chamber simulating morning fog, wind, and even rain!

There is a continuous slideshow of images from around the distillery and nearly everything is animated to entice customers to interact with it. All conditions are in realtime from a weather station near the distillery.

The final aspect is the “start movie” button which reduces the weather effects and begins playback of a video from the Glenfiddich Malt Master on a 1080p portrait screen inside the glass chamber. This video gives an overview of the distillery and details on the bottles from the limited edition cask that are available at the store.

The app is written entirely in Swift 1.2 and the iPad is locked down with Guided Access to prevent customers accessing anything else.

This was a really exciting project to work on as it is very different to the usual iOS apps I do. If you’re visiting Changhi Airport or passing through, be sure to visit the Glenfiddich Residence; I believe it will be there for the next year.