Star Wars mania is in the air, a hover board has been released, water has been found on Mars and drones are everywhere. So, it’s no surprise that robots have crept into our world – from robo-bartenders and robot hotels to a Michelin-starred automatic sweetshop. The future is now.
First up, it may not be a galactic ship, but earlier this year, the Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships turned ‘smartships’, unveiled its Bionic Bar, known as Makr Shakr. Order your cocktails via a smartphone app and watch (on a large screen behind the bar) as giant robot arms mix and muddle your drinks. Not one for the under 60s, perhaps.
Speaking of giant bionic arms, the newly opened Hen-na Hotel in Japan, the first robot hotel, not only have a pair manning the cloakroom, but have replaced all humanoid services with mechanical ones, from the long-lashed fembot and dinosaur at check in and the limbless trolley boys to the facial recognition technology for room keys. Need a concierge for your alarms or having a problem with the lights? Just ask Churi-chan, the tiny creature on your bedside table. As for dinner, vending machines make up the dining room with everything from fried chicken to frozen food and desserts.
And finally, London is doing the future the Michelin way via Heston’s Fat Duck re-launch today. We hear that part of the experience will now include the ‘sweetshop’, a robot in the shape of a doll’s house, that will roam around and dish out the sweets at the end of the meal…while puffing out smoke rings.
