Robot barista’s help serve customers in South Korea

A cafe in Daejeon, South Korea has hired a robot barista responsible for recording and serving orders to implement the South Korean government’s distancing protocols. As customers lean in to grab their drinks from the trays installed within its large computer, it says “Here is your Rooibos almonds tea latte, please enjoy. It’s even better if you stir it.” Coronavirus in South Korea After attempting to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which infected over 11,000 citizens and killed over 267, the South Korean Government has announced its decision to transition from intensive social distancing protocols to “ distancing in daily life.” Robots can help in ensuring social distancing According to Lee Dong-bae, Director of Research at Vision Semicon, a smart factory solution provider that developed the barista robot in collaboration with a state-run science institute, robots could enable social distancing to be observed in public. He said, “ our system needs no input from people from order to delivery, and tables were sparsely arranged to ensure smooth movements of the robots, which fits well with the current ‘untact’ and distancing campaign.”  Hence, the manufacturer and the scientific institution now aim to provide at least 30 cafes with robots within this year. Also read: Prints for Pandemic brought 50 contemporary artists together to collect funds for those affected by COVID-19