At Alibaba's Shanghai restaurant, forget everything you were taught about having your phone out at the table — you'll need it to call the robots that serve you. Fresh seafood restaurant Robot.He is located in Alibaba's Hema Supermarket, and a combination of conveyor belts, a robotic arm, and mobile carts on waist-high counters handle almost all of the waitstaff 'legwork.' They're guided by a software system that uses customer-submitted QR codes to figure out seating, ordering, and payment, via the Hema app. But it isn't as anti-social as it sounds: As the customer walks around the supermarket choosing their fresh seafood meal, humans are there to do what they do best — interact, assist, and of course, cook. By taking out the labor cost of food runners and waiters and keeping some crucial human employees, Alibaba hopes to make its restaurant more cost-efficient. The result is a fascinating and interactive dining experience. Here's a look at the way an order is placed at Robot.He — the restaurant where diners are served almost entirely by robots:
Alibaba is using robots instead of waiters to serve guests at its high-tech seafood restaurant in Shanghai. Customers at Robot.He, based in the Chinese tech giant's Hema Supermarket, use a series of QR codes on the Hema app to find a table, choose the fresh seafood from they want prepared, and pay for their meals. The bagged items are then transferred to a refrigerator using conveyor belts and a robotic arm until the customer is ready to sit. The food is then prepared and delivered straight to the customer's table via another network of conveyor belts.