ElevenLabs SoHo, New York · Technology & experience
Voice AI. Part of everyday life.
During New York Tech Week in June 2026, a SoHo store made shopping, coffee and conversation part of the ElevenLabs product experience. POPUP brought the physical environment and operation together.
The opportunity
The brief.
The SoHo store had to welcome curious passersby and give clients and creators a place for deeper conversation. Merchandise brought people through the door; trying the technology made the visit memorable.
The idea
Build the product into the visit.
Build the demonstration into the visit. A restrained retail environment makes the brand familiar. Shopping, coffee and a phone booth offer different ways to use the technology, supported by a hosted service experience.
POPUP’s role
The work behind the experience.
POPUP led physical production and operations: venue coordination, layout, custom fixtures, storefront presentation, staffing, guest flow and content capture, working alongside ElevenLabs and its creative and technology partners.
- Venue & production coordination
- Spatial experience & custom fixtures
- Storefront & environmental branding
- Retail staffing & daily operations
- Guest journey & hospitality
- Photography & edited films
Voice AI by ElevenLabs. Merchandise and store platform by Go Swag. Creative & UI by Studio Freight. Photography by Erica Westley.
Inside the experience
Start with a place people want to enter.
The SoHo setting, considered merchandising and restrained brand treatment gave the technology a retail context. Shopping stations sat within the store’s visual language, so visitors could discover the brand and its products in one continuous experience.
Let the product do something useful.
The merchandise collection became the setting for a voice-led shopping demonstration. Visitors could explore the digital collection while standing inside the physical store, with the on-site team helping them find their way into the interaction.
Turn a familiar ritual into discovery.
A coffee order offered another useful introduction to voice AI. The counter, equipment, ordering interface and service flow made the interaction part of the store’s hospitality, giving guests a reason to pause and spend time with the brand.
Give curiosity another way in.
The phone booth made a more personal encounter possible. Its familiar form invited people to pick up the receiver and try the technology, complementing the shopping and coffee experiences with a distinct moment in the guest journey.
Make the whole visit work.
Staffing, hospitality, merchandise handling and guest flow connected the individual interactions into one visit. POPUP’s team supported the live store, with photography and edited films extending the project’s content beyond the activation.
The experience in motion
Explore the experience.
A closer look
More from the experience.
The space and the collection
Discovery and hospitality
What it made possible
Technology people could spend time with.
A working encounter with voice AI
Shopping, coffee and a phone booth made the product part of familiar activities, supported by hosts and a considered store environment.
A format with a next chapter
The completed Madrid experience adapted the approach to another city and a distinct partner and programming context.
Continue the story
More with ElevenLabs.
See all ElevenLabs work →
Your next project
What could your brand bring to life?
Planning a product launch or an experience people can try in person? Explore how POPUP connects the audience journey with production and on-site delivery.
