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Tech

This Robot Barista Is Strangely Mesmerizing

But it uses a Keurig. Colour us unimpressed.
​Image: Kawada Industries

Robots are slowly but surely entering the service industry, and Kawada Industries' robot barista might be the smoothest yet. In fact, it's downright hypnotic.

The robot, ​NEXTAGE, made its coffee-slinging debut in October at ​Japan Robot Week. Customers ordered their drink on a tablet computer and Nextage did the rest. In three minutes, the robot smoothly and quickly whirred through the process of ​preparing a cup of coffee, complete with a basket containing a packet of cream and a stirring straw. In a company video depicting the process, elevator music enhances the entrancing display.

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NEXTAGE is a multipurpose robot designed for use in research and industry. Head-mounted cameras in stereo vision allow it to form a 3D picture of its environment, and hand-mounted cameras give it a 3D picture of the objects its handling. ​Hiro, the reprogrammable research version of Nextage, is already ​being put to use by Airbus on the factory line.

NEXTAGE is the latest in a series of industrial robots being put to use in the service industry. Previously, MIT researchers and tech design firm ​SuperUber programmed a ​KUKA Robotics industrial single-arm robot to mix a perfect cocktail. Baxter, a robot designed by ReThink Robotics with industrial applications in mind, has also been put to the test preparing a cup of Keurig coffee.

While Baxter is able to serve a coffee in under two minutes, it's not exactly graceful, has to have the Keurig packet pre-opened, and doesn't give you a nice basket of extras like NEXTAGE does.

Whatever Kawada Industry's intentions are, and despite NEXTAGE's impressive serving skills, it has to be said that a cup of Keurig is bullshit. Straight up. Apparently, it still takes a human's touch and creativity to serve up a decent latte.