Robot waiters and burger flippers serve food

Robots are serving customers at a fast-food restaurant in one of Seoul's major office districts to minimize contact between workers and customers.

Seoul, South Korea: There is very little to be said to the waiter at this burger restaurant in Seoul - that is because the food is served by a robot. From order to pick-up, customers don't need a single face-to-face interaction. When a customer makes an order at the kiosk, it automatically submits a command to the kitchen.

This instructs the automated cooking machine to heat the buns and patties, explains Bae Eunyoung, manager of No Brand Burger Yeoksam branch. "Once the machine passes the cooked ingredients, our staff combines them with toppings into a hamburger, wraps it and hands it over to a serving robot. The customer can take the food without any direct contact with the staff," she says.

• Customers can choose their order from the menu at the designated kiosk, then pay and wait for a serving robot to bring their takeout bag to the pick-up spot.
• It is then time for the capsule-shaped serving robots, reminiscent of the popular character Minions from an American animated film "Despicable Me," to collect the order.
• The robot is meant to give customers some assurance during the coronavirus pandemic by reducing contact with restaurant staff.

"It's something I only saw on news. This is the first time I actually see such robots, so they are really amazing and fun. Also especially in this time of coronavirus, I think it's great to make an order and directly pick up the food without human contact," says customer Shin Hyun Soo.

South Korea relaxed its physical distancing guidelines in the Seoul metropolitan area, citing a downward trend in new infections and worries about public livelihoods.

Under new distancing rules that were formally effective from Monday (14 September 2020) for two-weeks, franchise cafes and bakeries are allowed to have customers drink and eat inside their shops while indoor gyms and after-school academics can reopen.

A ban on dining at restaurants after 9 p.m. was also lifted.

But these facilities are still required to impose some distancing rules like having visitors sit at least one seat apart from each other or wear masks.

With concerns over the spread of coronavirus, together with the government's appeal to avoid gatherings, people have made noticeable changes to their routines to physically distance themselves from others.

• In August, takeout orders accounted for 58% of No Brand Burger's total sales, up by 16% from that of July, according to Shinsegae Food, a South Korean food company operating No Brand Burger.
• Other restaurants in Seoul are also employing an AI robot to serve dine-in customers.
• South Korea's major IT company KT has partnered with a family restaurant chain Mad for Garlic and launched an AI serving robot to cater to customers.

Combining 3D space mapping and self-driving, the robot can freely move through narrow passes between tables and avoid obstacles to reach its destination, says Lee Youngjin, team leader of the AI Platform Business Team at KT.

"Social distancing has become a norm in the time of the coronavirus. KT's serving robot provides "untact" service to customers in accordance with the new norm. In particular, the robot can drive itself in any space with its self-driving feature," he says.

The robot can serve a maximum of four tables at a time using its four trays.

"Child customers often like to see the robot. Also, customers, in general, feel it is fresher to receive their food through the robot because of the coronavirus," says Lee Young-ho, the restaurant manager at Mad For Garlic.

(AP)