Signs all over the cafeteria forbid photography or video, a gentle suggestion that everyone ignores with raised phones and cameras. But who wants to get food from a boring ol’ human being when you can get it delivered by Ultron’s cousin? The wait to be served by a robot can extend up to 40 minutes, even though much of the exact same food is available by walking up to another section of the cafeteria and asking one of the hazmat-clad workers. Look around, and you’ll see a large white mechanical arm deftly flipping baskets of hot fries, or a conveyor belt of burger assembly happening right before your eyes. Look overhead in the cafeteria, and you’ll see a complex system of tracks and cords, where covered dishes descend from the ceiling ready for diners to remove and eat. Thousands of writers, photographers and broadcasters will pass through the cafeteria over the next two weeks, and the robots are the perfect centerpiece for a soft-focus Olympics story. The Beijing Olympics organizers’ decision to automate much of the cafeteria in the Games’ Main Media Center was a savvy one. They’re charming, inoffensive, and when they trundle around you, it definitely takes you a moment to remember they’re probably filming you and tracking your every move. They’re the complete opposite of those Boston Dynamics robo-helldogs you see pushing down doors and leaping walls like the opening scenes of a robot-uprising movie. These happy little R2-D2-style robots sport painted-on masks and cheery designs. Others scoot through the media center, admonishing visitors to make sure their masks are on straight. Some roll through the lobbies of hotels, spraying a mist of disinfectant in the air in a debatably effective means of combating the spread of COVID. Look around Beijing, and you’ll see robots almost everywhere.
Hence, burger-flipping robots … along with cleaning robots, mask-nagging robots, fry-cooking robots, and perhaps the greatest robots of all … bartender robots. At these Games, China is seeking to reduce human-to-human contact while also putting a happy face on automation.
Because if robots start cooking better burgers than humans, we’re in a lot of trouble.Įvery Olympics gives the host nation an opportunity to flex before the world in ways both impressive and subtle. Not visiting either of these British Airways lounges this month? Looks like you can buy your own robot bartender for under $1000.BEIJING - It is my pleasure to report that the burgers cooked by Chinese robots are not very good. Two special cocktails are on the menu: one called Silicon Galley the other Echo-Whiskey-Romeo. No doubt, without the witty bartender banter.īritish Airways’ First and Club World customers traveling from San Francisco and Newark will be able to sidle up to the robotic bar and choose from 30 cocktails and a variety of customizable drinks. Then they place a glass on a small conveyor belt and the robot bartending machine does the rest. Customers order a drink by clicking a button on a screen.
Now comes word that throughout February, a robot bartender will be serving drinks at the British Airways lounges at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).īA has installed the Barsys 2.0, a smart automated cocktail-making machine. More airport robots are coming to serve you.Ī Briggo robotic barista serves up specialty coffee drinks from two automated Coffee Haus spots in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and from one located in San Francisco International Airport (SFO) adjacent to the security entrance inside Terminal 3.