If you're anything like me, you long for the day when your robot servant hands a negroni mixed just how you like it across to your drone, which then calmly flies the beverage across the yard (adhering to all codes of conduct) and into your hand as you lounge in your hot tub.
We might not be there just yet, but this delightful little thing comes pretty close – and it's just been showcased at CES 2024.
Ottonomy isn't a startup. It was founded in late 2020 by Ritukar Vijay, Pradyot Korupolu, Ashish Gupta and Hardik Sharma, and is headquartered in New York. During the pandemic, Indian eCommerce player Snapdeal used Ottonomy's Ottobots for last-mile delivery, but in 2022 the company raised $3.3 million in seed funding to expand its offering. And this is the kind of expansion I'm here for.
Ottonomy is actually introducing two delivery robots at CES: the Ottobot Locker (an L4 autonomous robot and safe-box built for localized shipping; basically moving items from place to place in partnership with Harbor Lockers) and the drink-dispensing – and thus more interesting – cooler enhanced Ottobot Brew.
You can see Ottonomy's work in action below, where shuttling lunch orders around malls in New York (and sometimes through streets) is fast becoming the norm.
Gimme the beer boys, and free my soul…
The Ottobot Brew is billed as a mobile beverage service, where the grocery container (seen above) or locker is switched out with a cooler and CO2 draft system from beer-cooling specialist, Cooler Keg, which can also dispense various aerated beverages including "beer, cocktails, mocktails and even cold coffee".
But you can't order a cold one on draught straight to your door just yet. Rather than for home delivery, the Ottobot Brew is intended for VIP functions, specialist restaurants, hotels, casinos and other event or hospitality situations. So, although Ottonomy doesn't want to sell its beverage-toting bots to the public just yet, you may well see an Ottobot Locker nipping past you delivering goods in the future – or an Ottobot Brew at a forward-thinking function.
For those wanting a cutting edge bit of tech at CES which both feels like you're living in the future and that you will actually be able to buy, see the amazing transparent LG OLED TV we've spent a bit of time with, officially called the the LG Signature OLED T.
Prefer something wildly expensive and completely unattainable for most of us? See the Sonus Faber Suprema speakers. OK, back to the hot tub…
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