Could this be the future of bartender training? Virtual reality bartending. Yes you heard us right, virtual reality bartending. Six time WFA world champion flair bartender, Tomek Malek, has been working in conjunction with VR Factory to create a fully immersive and entirely unique simulator.

Bartender VR Simulator is both a game and a training tool. You start as a simple bartender working in a music club, you will have four drinks to master at this club before you move on to the next stage and your next job, working at a beach bar. Bartender VR Simulator will take you through four different bartending jobs in total, ranging from a simple music club to the top of the most exclusive skyscraper in a metropolitan city.

As the experience progresses the challenges will get harder and the drinks more complex. Your customers need serving as quickly as possible and you need to get the drink right from choosing the proper drinking glass to making sure you get the correct measurements of each ingredient.

All of the bartending equipment in the game has been scanned with a 3D scanner and is perfectly represented in the game, so this really does work as an effective training tool -providing new bartenders with the experience of all the typical scenarios they would face as a bartender.

With a live leaderboard and various timed challenges, Bartender VR Simulator has the potential to create a new system to measure who the best bartenders in the world are and where they are. It will be very interesting to see what names are popping up and whether they correlate with out own worldwide bartender leaderboards here at the World Flair Association. There is even talk of VR bartending championships, you may even see the WFA pop up, watch this space.

We spoke to six time WFA world champion flair bartender, Tomek Malek, to discover how his work and success within the WFA led to him being approached to help create Bartender VR Simulator:

“For sure, the WFA has provided a platform for all of us who are serious about bartending to get on stage and show the world what we can do. The WFA is one of the only organisations in the world that presents these opportunities to bartenders all over the world. Through the organisation of their various competitions and Grand Slam events it not only allows us as flair bartenders to compete and improve but also gives us exposure to thousands of people all over the globe.

It is the six world championship titles that I have acquired during my time competing as a flair bartender in WFA competitions that attracted the team at VR Factory. They were looking for an experienced and successful bartender to work with to help them build the simulator. Thanks to all the videos from WFA events, the trophies and accolades I have won during my time as a flair bartender, I was able to be found and approached to work on this project.”.

Take a look at the development video below: