Technology. The Asian restaurant Buddha Zen acquired a robot waiter last month. The objective is to make up for the lack of manpower that the establishment is struggling to find. This investment also raises the question of the future of man facing the machine.
Machines and robots have long been part of science fiction or “cyber” and “mecha” cultures approached in manga. For many, they are still only in the state of fantasies, fads of laboratory researchers. But little by little, the imagination in which they were cataloged is emancipated. Today, machines are part of everyday life.
More and more companies, particularly in Chaumont, are choosing to invest in robotics. The motivation for such an acquisition finds its explanation in the difficulties of finding labour.
The Asian restaurant Buddha Zen, and its owner Ben Yang, reached this milestone last month. The establishment has acquired a “server robot”. The latter is still far from cooking, but he is a faithful assistant for the team of waiters.
The robot-server = Six to eight additional arms
It is noon and the restaurant is already welcoming a few customers. Beneath its feline airs, the server robot circulates between the tables, playing a little music. It is controlled by the team via a touch screen. Simply indicate the number of a table, each equipped with a QR code, for the machine to go there.
Aware that the machine will not replace the human, Ben Yang confides: “This robot brings something more. Our team is made up of eight employees, but sometimes we are not complete”. Thanks to a laser grid system installed throughout the restaurant room, the robotic waiter moves through space avoiding the slightest obstacle, including customers.
“He only brings the dishes, but he represents the equivalent of six to eight pairs of arms”, explains the manager. “It is especially very practical when it comes to looking after large tables. The robot has four trays. Once the dishes are served, you can immediately leave with those that have just been eaten. This avoids back and forth. »
Ben Yang does not regret his purchase, for which he paid around 15,000 euros, including all the programming. A choice which for him is also interesting in the sense that the robot requires little maintenance even though it has a life expectancy of 75,000 km.
This server robot works in the same way as a cleaning robot or the autonomous mower. Once his task is complete, he returns to his personal station and goes to sleep.
Surprised or worried
On the customer side, the opinions are mixed. While some find this robot “funnier than anything else”, almost relegating it to an animation, others are clearly wondering about the place of humans. This is the case, especially for Eric.
“I’m not against new technologies, quite the contrary, but I’m against the fact that they replace humans and social interactions. That does not please me. When you come to the restaurant, it’s also to see men and women”. For him, the clever digital smile of the cat will never replace the smile of a waiter.
“At this level, it’s not a problem, because it’s still a human server that we’re talking to, and the customer doesn’t take his dish himself from the robot. It would be the opposite, I think it would be more intriguing” admits a customer, who came with her family, who considers the robot more like an advanced trolley. “It’s nice, especially since the week he began to hum ‘Happy Birthday’ to my mother,” she smiles.
It would seem that, for the moment, Asian restaurants are more inclined to use robots in their work, probably due to the fact that technological and robotic evolution has largely democratized in the Far East. But, for the boss of the Zen Buddha, “restoration will increasingly turn to this type of tool”.
Robots have already taken over daily life or the agricultural world and farms, especially in milking parlours. They are also widely used in the therapeutic field, the military sector, or more unusual in questions of sexuality. The frontier between humans and technologies which, until now, was intended to be insurmountable, is increasingly being redefined. The same goes for the question of the place of man.
Joffrey Tridon
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This machine looks maliciously at the server. Is she hiding something sneaky? -
The robot is controlled by the waiters who tell it which table it should go to. -
For the restaurant manager, this type of tool is set to develop in the profession.
