FIU Alumnus Combines Wine with 3D Augmented Reality

Diana Rodriguez/Contributing Writer

Before graduating from FIU, Jose “Tony” Haber sat through numerous poetry classes before getting his Fine Arts degree. Little did he know that his passion for writing and bringing people together through alcohol would lead him to start his own wine business.

“Loco Por Ti” and “Crazy Love”—two of his brands—are designed in a way that targets and motivates indecisive wine consumers with deliberate, poetic brand managing.

The next step in Haber’s career will be his most ambition. He plans to implement 3D simulation technology into his drink lines.

He is currently working on two virtual simulation projects, one involving augmented reality that will aid visitors at bars when deciding on what to drink.

“It’s an application where we scan a bottle—we’re doing it with gin—where the label is a barcode,” said Haber.

The label will prompt a virtually augmented AI system to come out of the bottle.

“It’ll say: ‘Hi, my name is Ana, what would you like to drink?’” said Haber.

Haber says that Ana, the name he’s giving the AI for now, will teach you how to make drinks with the spirit of your choice that is compatible with the app. It may even give you choices in what food you could order that would compliment well with the drink.

This goal of Haber’s is still in the works, mostly because of how expensive a quality AI system would cost to design, but it is a dream he wants to make a successful reality.

His second project involves a personalized 3D message on a chocolate box.

“You can dedicate a chocolate box to somebody… a cartoon will appear and say ‘Hi, my name is Joey,’ for example, but it can be female or male, and you can talk to that person.”

The box becomes a visual message from someone who personally dedicated the box to you.

He is on his way to finish branding and distributing his Felices Los 4 wine line, another accomplishment to add to his list of drinks.

However, Haber wants to stake a step back and work on the details on his app.

He thinks it is always in a company’s best interest to “focus on one thing to make it successful before starting on something else.”

For example, aiming your phone camera at the bottle’s label at a weird angle will distort the label off of the bottle, which he wants to fix as soon as possible in order to have a high quality and functioning app.

The “singing” feature his app will have, where a figure will sing as you point your camera at each label, has to be adjusted so that the AI’s lip movements are in sync with the audio.

You can find Haber’s exclusive wines and spirits at Fresco and even the Modesto Maidique Campus’s own Vicky’s Bakery, but he is excited to announce his brands are being approved for distribution at Winn-Dixie locations.

“They’re giving me over 100 stores to start with, with at least three wines to sell at each. I’ve also gotten requests from Canada—it just hasn’t happened yet,” said Haber.

Haber plans to share his drinks across the country, eventually outside of Miami.

“People are drinking more wine nowadays than liquor, but it’s really hard to do things by yourself,” said Haber.

As Haber continues to work with FIU by connecting with the community through his wine brands, those interested can visit his Instagram pages at @locoportiwines and @crazylovewines for news and updated events.