A robot bartender appeared in the movie Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. This robot was so social that when appropriate, it could offer a very human perspective to our characters and share their troubles.
We don’t currently have robot bartenders at that level, but there is definitely an interest in robot bartenders. In previous studies, we encountered a bartender robot making jokes while preparing a drink. This robot, on the other hand, can make personal conversations.
Do robot bartenders dream of liquid-cooled cocktails?
Researchers from the Federico Il University of Naples in Italy have developed a robot they call BRILLO. This robot was designed to be a complete bartender. In their recently published paper, the researchers explained how their robot would enable them to have personal conversations with regulars.
Professor Silvia Rossi, the head of the research, stated that making a robot that can act like a real bartender has not been studied before. Of course, there are robots that can make cocktails, but these robots cannot chat and make friends like a real bartender.
The bartender robot named BRILLO has two arms and a monitor-like face for preparing drinks. Thanks to this face, the robot can use gestures and facial expressions while communicating with its guests. The way the robot works is based on the logic of creating a separate profile for each customer.
These profiles do not include only recently purchased drinks. Let’s say there is a customer who wants another drink from this robot when he is happy, another when he is nervous, and another when he is sad. In this case, the robot tries to guess the feelings of the other person from the facial expression and body language. Then he communicates according to his previous experiences. Let’s say if a regular comes and wants whiskey after his favorite team lost a match, the robot will say, “No, Brother Francesco, do you think what will happen to Fiorentina?” He can pour whiskey, at least in theory.
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