Robot Restaurant Tokyo yakuza-Robotic restaurants

Automatic robot restaurants put a new spin on fast informal

They're not our conspirators as of this time. At these restaurants, the robots are here to serve you.
Once someone says "robot restaurant, " I first think of an LED and laser show at a Tokyo venue where remote-controlled robots dance with bikini-clad girls in a sensory show that accompanies supper.

But the reality of robot restaurants is generally way more pedestrian and low-class.

One example is Eatsa, the San Francisco-based restaurant company that takes orders through iPads and dispenses meals through automated machines. Until now, Eatsa has been using this tech to provide up quinoa bowls to health-food fans in its own restaurants. But the company announced Friday that is actually expanding its robotic program to the fast-casual restaurant chain Wow Bao next month.

Tap on your cubby to get your food

At Chicago-based Wow Bao, you can already order your steamed buns via its software or an on-site kiosk. Good results . Eatsa's tech, you'll also have the ability to accumulate your meal from an LED-lit cubbyhole displaying your name. Text appearing on the front of the cubby, one amid a larger array, will tell you when your order is cooking and once you can double-tap on the box to accumulate your food.

It's a quick turnaround for Eatsa, which only a couple weeks ago announced the closing of five of its several restaurants across the country. The company has now turned its focus to offering automated tech as a platform to other restaurants such as Wow Bao.

A blend of artificial intelligence, personal screens, robotics and -- perhaps most crucially -- the determination of hungry customers to skip human interaction is coming at the right moment to make Eatsa's shift possible. It's part of any sluggish creep of technology that's transforming our activities of dining out, and even dining in, thanks to advances in delivery technical.

Eatsa's concept might seem to be exotic today, but Neil Stern, senior partner at retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle, said we can expect to see more of this kind of tech popping up. "Does it seem sensible to cover assembly of orders and deliver via an office? " he said. "Maybe not. But Eatsa does indeed present a vision for the future that will be copied or enhanced. "

Robot Restaurant Tokyo yakuza-Robotic restaurants

The first Eatsa-equipped Wow Bao will open in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago on Dec. you. Using the technology, Amazing Bao plans to twin its sites in 2018. It currently has eight company-owned locations, plus airport terminal, college or university campus, hotel and stadium franchises.

"When We first heard about Eatsa opening in San Francisco, I jumped on a plane to come see it, " Wow Bao President Geoff Alexander said in a statement. Alexander praised the technology as both entertaining and efficient. "I knew straight away that Eatsa would be the perfect technology to integrate into our future locations. "

Do robots are supposed to be in the kitchen?
In Eatsa and soon at Wow Bao, the automatic technology is front and center in the restaurant, serving customers and providing these an experience to go along with their takeout. In other restaurants, robots continue to be strictly consigned to your kitchen.

At Cafe X and Zume, both based in San Francisco, automated programs make lattes and pizza, respectively. California startup Miso Robotics has built a kitchen assistant robot called Flippy, which from early 2018 is expected to be grilling burgers in CaliBurger restaurants.