Robotic employees such as hotel concierges and English teachers are nothing new in Japan, but here is its first robotic bartender. QBIT Robotics created this chatty robot that works in one of Tokyo's Yoronotaki izakaya restaurants.
According to Reuters, "it uses four cameras to monitor customers to analyze their expressions with artificial intelligence (AI) software." It can pour a beer in 40 seconds and "mix a cocktail in a minute"–although in this video it's closer to two minutes.
From Reuters:
Japan’s first robot bartender has begun serving up drinks in a Tokyo pub in a test that could usher in a wave of automation in restaurants and shops struggling to hire staff in an aging society…
Finding workers, especially in Japan’s service sector, is set to get even more difficult.
Japan wants to use the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games beginning on July 27 to showcase service robot technology, with organizers planning to use robots built by Toyota Motor and Panasonic Corp to help visitors, workers and athletes.
The robot bartender trial at the pub, which employs about 30 people, will last two months after which Yoronotaki will assess the results.
