Kenya gets its first automated restaurant featuring robot waiters
Kenya has introduced its first automated restaurant, where robot waiters assist in serving customers.
The restaurant, Robot Café which features three robots named Nadia, R24, and Claire, represents a blend of human and robotic service aimed at enhancing efficiency without replacing human staff.
"The robots are here to complement our waiters, not replace them. They help make the work easier, but orders are still taken by human waitresses to ensure customization to customers' preferences. While we're working on enabling robots to take orders without errors, for now, they only deliver food to the table," explained the restaurant's manager, John Kariuki.
The robots, dressed in red and blue, can communicate and even alert customers if they are blocking their path, though they cannot engage in full conversations. The restaurant is exploring future improvements to allow the robots to handle more tasks, but the manager emphasised that the goal is not to replace human workers with machines.
The robots are operated from a command centre, which can be a laptop, phone, or computer equipped with the necessary software. While the robots can be controlled manually or automatically, the automated system is preferred, allowing the robots to navigate to specific tables independently. Manual control is used primarily during large events when tables are rearranged.
