Every area, every street and every locality in India is dotted with food joints. Which is why it is only natural that some of them introduce specialised menus, unique themes and quirky decor to stand out from the rest and attract clientele. One particular eatery in Karnataka owned by L Raghavendra and his son Suhan decided to do it with a robot!
According to the Times of India, Upahara Darshini, a restaurant located in Vinoba Nagar, Shivamogga, has recently acquired a fully automatic humanoid to serve food and interact with guests in English and Kannada.
Upahara Darshini, a #restaurant in #Shivamogga is perhaps the first one in #Karnataka to introduce a #humanoid #robot as server to treat customers, with pre recorded voice in #Kannada & #English @BangaloreMirror @tinucherian pic.twitter.com/kovCkrTYtZ
— Sridhar Vivan, Bangalore Mirror (@sridharvMIRROR) May 9, 2019
Earlier, a restaurant in Chennai also purchased robot waiters. The humanoid in Upahara Darshini doesn’t have a name yet but it is a hit with the customers who love taking selfies with it. The owner reveals,
“We had been to Vijayawada to buy equipment for our restaurant when we saw a humanoid up for sale. We took a selfie with it and decided to buy it as it would entertain children. In China several hotels use humanoids and we thought of setting up one in our restaurant.”
Upahara Darshini, located in Vinoba Nagar, is only the third restaurant in the nation to operate a humanoid robot. It welcomes the restaurant's patrons in both English and Kannada. (@nolanentreeo)
More #ReporterDiary: https://t.co/FAHzdk9TO8 pic.twitter.com/yv14lgi2Zu— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) May 9, 2019
The humanoid was manufactured in China and can greet customers and offer them water when they arrive.
“We need some time to programme the humanoid further. We have spent about Rs 5.5 lakh to set it up.”
Maybe in the future, robots will take over the kitchen duties as well and cook meals for patrons. What do you think?