Q24N (EFE) “Welcome!” greets robot Nadia, dressed in a red dress, after detecting a human presence through her motion sensor at the entrance in Nairobi of the first restaurant in East Africa to use this technology, which offers a futuristic customer experience.
The establishment, known as Robot Café, is located in the Kileleshwa district, in the west of the Kenyan capital.
It is designed in a minimalist way with neutral and blue tones, and has two other robot waitresses who accompany Nadia – Claire and R24 – and circulate from the reception of the establishment to the customers’ seats.
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These robots are equipped with two cameras placed on the front of their heads, which allows them to recognize and distinguish objects from people, and they also have built-in motion sensors.
The operation of the three robots makes the staff’s tasks easier and their main purpose is both to bring the product to the diner’s table and to shorten the customer’s waiting time to receive their order.
A futuristic service
One of the restaurant’s waitresses, Massy, aged 26, told EFE that she is grateful to have a robot that helps her serve several tables simultaneously, as this way she can offer the customer a more complete service.
“The truth is that it is nice to work with robots because they make my job easier. I don’t have to take the food from the kitchen to the tables,” the young woman admits, although she considers that androids are a tool that cannot replace them.
“I have to interact with the guests and give them a personalized service. Because in the end, (the robots) cannot speak or interact like we humans do,” explains Massy.
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After all, Nadia, Claire and R24 are machines that can cause setbacks.
The restaurant’s manager, John Kariuki, told EFE that the charger for one of the robots broke down in the restaurant’s first week of opening.
Another challenge is that drinks, such as juices, cannot be transported by these robots because there are gutters on the restaurant floor that obstruct their passage to the tables.
The software that programs these robotic waitresses combines artificial intelligence with the Light, Detection and Measurement (LIDAR) system, a technology that allows distances to be measured with objects.
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“This resource helps the robot to know where it should go at all times,” says Kariuki, who opened the restaurant on June 16 and is constantly receiving curious customers.
An obstacle to employment?
One of these consumers is Barak Leoret, 25, who waits at one of the tables and orders an iced coffee, on his first visit to a restaurant of this type.
“It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I thought it was a joke, but it’s a reality,” this young engineer who was born in Samburu County, about 400 kilometers by road from Nairobi, told EFE.
Leoret believes that the widespread implementation of this type of technology could harm many young people in the African country who have difficulty accessing employment.
“This is a threat to them, so I think it is a challenge if we are going to introduce it as a development in the country,” says the engineer.
Other restaurants on the continent have also opted for this technology, such as the Robot Cafe in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, which was a pioneer in Africa by including androids as assistants to waiters in its work team.
South Africa has also joined this trend with the restaurant The Munch Cafe in Johannesburg, which uses elements of robotics in its operations.
The incorporation of this technology into the hospitality business represents “only the beginning” of an evolution in the sector, Kariuki stresses.
“It is already part of us. If people wanted to fight against technology, we would have done so a couple of years ago. Now, we have to accept that it is here to stay,” concludes the restaurant manager.
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