Imagine a restaurant with just robots acting as servers. A robot comes to your table, takes your order and in no time even serves you your dishes in panache. Seems like a thing of the future? Well, not in Melbourne, Australia! Actor turned content creator Shenaz Treasury recently have the Internet a glimpse of a restaurant that has no human servers but robo-waiters. And this is what the future looks like.
Shenaz Treasury Gives Glimpse Of Robo-Waiters In Melbourne
In a video posted by Shenaz Treasury on her Instagram page, a robo-waiter is seen whizzing past her and then standing by her table. Taken by surprise, Shehnaz glances at the robot and laughs away. She then informs us that at this restaurant in Melbourne, there are no waiters but just robo-waiters. The robot takes her order and then comes once again with trays of food and beverages like Matcha tea, orange juice and the Aussie fave, avocado on toast.
She adds in her caption, one Melbourne restaurant started including robots in its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic when the restaurant had to deal with staff shortages. Since then, it has become a trend in Melbourne to hire robo-waiters at restaurants. Also known as Bellabots, the robo-waiters serve freshly prepared meals right from the kitchen to customers. On speaking with the restaurant owner, Shenaz Treasury came to know that replacing waiters with robots helps the restaurant keep its cost down.
According to a report by 9News, Melbourne restaurant owner Boon Low revealed that using these robots was very simple. They would just press a button informing robots which tray needs to be served at which table. And voila, the robo-waiters trotted about and served those trays. While a robot would cost $24,000 (₹14 lakhs approx) to buy, Mr Low chose to rent them for just $48($2775 approx) per robot per day. This is equivalent to paying servers to work for two hours.
Bengaluru & Chennai Had Robot-Themed Restaurants
In India, there have been robot restaurants that wowed the public. Bengaluru witnessed Robot Restaurant in Indiranagar which had a brief yet eye-ball-grabbing stint, only to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Chennai also had a robot-themed restaurant which also closed permanently. Here’s a video to take you on a trip down memory lane.
With Melbourne hiring robo-waiters at restaurants across the city, we wonder if robots will make a comeback in India again. Until then, this is just another reminder that the future is here. And it won’t be long before our favourite pizza chain will pizza chefs cook our favourite meals.