Who Made Those Olympic Food and Beverage Robots?
There's a robot bartender that seems a lot like Makr Shakr's -- but isn't.
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The News
In an effort to stave off Covid (and maximize efficiency), food robots have been installed inside the Olympic “bubbles” to make and serve meals and drinks.
According to NBC News, there is a coffee making robot, a cocktail robot and a robotic restaurant — plus a variety of other robotic assistants doing various tasks.
No company names were given to the robots in the reporting we’ve seen, but Orionstar posted a video of its coffee robot making a drink for Olympic athelete Eileen Feng Gu. And while the robot bartender looks a lot like Makr Shakr’s, Makr Shakr confirmed that it’s not theirs (much to that company’s chagrin).
The Story
While I don’t think the use of robots at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will drive a ton of sales of food and drink robots, it does help highlight what robots do best — work around the clock, making delicious meals and drinks while minimizing human-to-human interaction (important when you’re trying to keep everyone healthy!).
But let’s take a closer look at those robots, shall we? Per NBC, there is a robot barista, a robot bartender and a full-on robotic restaurant. But who are the companies behind them? (There’s actually a mystery afoot!)