- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
At Alibaba’s Shanghai restaurant, forget everything you were taught about having your phone out at the table – you’ll need it to call the robots that serve you.
Fresh seafood restaurant Robot.He is located in Alibaba’s Hema Supermarket, and a combination of conveyor belts, a robotic arm, and mobile carts on waist-high counters handle almost all of the waitstaff ‘legwork.’ They’re guided by a software system that uses customer-submitted QR codes to figure out seating, ordering, and payment, via the Hema app.
But it isn’t as anti-social as it sounds: As the customer walks around the supermarket choosing their fresh seafood meal, humans are there to do what they do best – interact, assist, and of course, cook. By taking out the labor cost of food runners and waiters and keeping some crucial human employees, Alibaba hopes to make its restaurant more cost-efficient. The result is a fascinating and interactive dining experience.
Here’s a look at the way an order is placed at Robot.He – the restaurant where diners are served almost entirely by robots:
When a customer arrives, they’re still greeted by a host or hostess.
- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The customer uses a check-in kiosk to find a table.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
Staff is available to walk them through the steps the first time around.
A QR code on the customer’s app is then scanned to the kiosk to inform the software system where they’ll be sitting.
- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
From there, the customer is free to go about the supermarket choosing the fresh seafood they want the cooks to prepare.
- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The customer can take the bagged items to checkout once they’re ready, where they once again pull up their QR code to be scanned.
- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
Once the order is complete, the employee at the checkout counter puts the bagged items on a hanger attached to a conveyor belt.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
And the belt takes the bag to a robotic arm that transfers it to a refrigerator so it’s kept cool until the customer is seated and the food is ready to be prepared.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The customer, meanwhile, is seated at the table they chose once it’s ready.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
While they wait, a QR code at the table allows the customer to order additional items, like rice.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The menu for these additional items is right there on the app.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The kitchen staff places the food — the fresh items bought at the supermarket and the additional items from the app — on carts.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
And the readied carts navigate around a highway of surfaces according to the location specified by the customer’s QR code.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
All the food goes straight to the customer’s table.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
The pod opens so the customer can retrieve their meal, and the transaction is complete.
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- YouTube/Alibaba Group
Last step: Enjoy a fresh seafood meal, hand-picked and straight from the market.
- source
- YouTube/Alibaba Group
You can watch Alibaba’s whole video here.