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.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.
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