Customers visiting this hotel in Mysuru are in for a pleasant surprise as a robot clad in a traditional saree turns up with food and beverages ordered by them.
What is more, on completion of the order, the ‘’waitress’’ also makes a request to the customers to give a voice command to ‘’go back’’ so that it can serve other customers.
The robot – named as Eco – is on a test run since Monday at Hotel Siddharta and is battery operated. It can run for 8 hours on a single charge of nearly 4 hours. It is likely to be fully operational from Wednesday.
The hotel authorities said it was procured from Delhi at cost of ₹2.5 lakh and six more are in the pipeline. ‘’This will supplement the existing manpower and is an added attraction to lure more customers and is not a substitute for human resource’’, said a representative from the hotel’s marketing division.
The robot works on artificial intelligence and is programmed to move along a magnetic strip that is laid on the floor. The customers have to place their order to the waiters who will be attending on them and they in turn will issue the orders to the robot which will walk up to the kitchen to deliver the same to the chefs. Once the food or the beverage ordered from a particular table is ready, it is placed on the robot which will deliver to the table concerned. It is not that the robot waitress will take orders directly from the customers but it will deliver the same to them.
This is the first of its kind in Mysuru though not in Karnataka but the initiative is expected to generate more customers given its novelty value. The attire of the robotic waitress will be changed once in a few days for which the hotel management has tied up with a few saree showrooms as part of cross-promotion.
