It’s official, we’re living in the future promised by all our favourite childhood movies and TV shows.
We’ve got robot vacuum cleaners and can speak our household commands for Amazon Echo to address. What we’re missing though is a machine that can help perk us up in the mornings.
Well, no more. The world’s ‘first robotic cafe’ has opened its doors in San Francisco, with a robot handed the job of making your morning cup of joe.
Dubbed Café X, the futuristic location uses a machine designed around a Mitsubishi robot arm which as been programmed with all the necessary movements required to make a barista-grade cup of coffee.
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That includes grabbing cups, pumping syrup and ensuring there’s the perfect balance of beans, water and milk form the ideal cup of coffee.
Capable of making between 100 and 120 cups and hour, the robot has been introduced to speed up the coffee-making process, cut down consumers’ wait times and ensure every cup that leaves the shop’s doors meets the same high standards.
“I’ve long been a big coffee consumer and there’s never a guaranteed seamless experience,” Café X’s founder and CEO, Harry Hu said.
“In today’s world you have two options for getting a cup of coffee: you’re either in and out with something subpar or you’re waiting in a 15-minute line for a great cappuccino.
“I started Café X to eliminate that inherent compromise and give people access to a tasty cup of coffee consistently and conveniently.”
Allowing customers to place their order via their phones, sadly you won’t see this coffee-making robot sitting on your kitchen counter anytime soon.
Taking up much of the coffee shop, the oversized machine sits behind a large plexiglass window, letting customers watch as it goes about its robotic duties.
Once made, the robotic arm will place customers’ coffees at a delivery window, with those waiting on their beverage needing to enter their four-digit pin in order to claim their drink.
So, are robot-made coffees the future? Well, probably not just yet.
“This won’t replace baristas or the coffee shop experience that so many people have come to love – we don’t aim to do that,” Hu said.
“What we’re offering is the best possible experience for people who are looking for consistent speciality coffee to-go.”
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Would you consume food or drink prepared by a robot? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
