Robot barista replaces humans in Japanese cafe

A robot barista called "Sawyer" is able to serve a maximum of five cups of coffee at one go at Henn-na Cafe meaning "Strange Café" in Japanese.

The robot barista called "Sawyer" makes a coffee during its demonstration at "Henn-na Cafe," meaning "Strange Cafe" in Japanese, in Tokyo, Japan, January 30, 2018.
Reuters

The robot barista called "Sawyer" makes a coffee during its demonstration at "Henn-na Cafe," meaning "Strange Cafe" in Japanese, in Tokyo, Japan, January 30, 2018.

Japan's first cafe served by a robot opened its doors to media on Tuesday with an automaton replacing the barista to serve coffee to patrons.

A cafe typically employs about four to five people to operate machines and serve coffee. Here, they are replaced by the robot barista called "Sawyer" and the automated coffee machine.

Customers at Henn-na Cafe, meaning "Strange Cafe" in Japanese, have to scan a QR code printed on a ticket bought from a vending machine in order to get a $3 (320 yen) coffee.

TRT World's Joseph Hayat has more on the story.

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Solutions to ageing society

The robot cafe follows a trend to solve labour shortages in a rapidly ageing Japanese society, which raises questions about the future of human labour.

Reuters

The robot barista called "Sawyer" makes a coffee at "Henn-na Cafe," in Tokyo, Japan, January 30, 2018.

Sawyer is able to serve a maximum of five cups of coffee at one go. One cup takes about four minutes to make.

"By running the cafe with fewer manpower, we can increase productivity and serve delicious coffee at a reasonable price," said a General Manager of Corporate Planning Department for H.I.S. CO. LTD., Masataka Tamaki.

Henn-na cafe will open to the public on Thursday.

This technological development is not new in Tokyo – travel agency H.I.S. opened its third Henn-na hotel in downtown Tokyo on Thursday where robots help check guests in and clean the lobby instead of human staff, after the two other hotels in Tokyo and Nagasaki, southern Japan, became famous tourist attractions.

Reuters

Android robots are seen at the reception desk of Henn-na Hotel Tokyo Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2018.

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