Barney is a little different from the usual Swiss bartender. He is completely automated, mixes dozens of cocktails and even makes terrible jokes.
The developer F & P Robotics says he sees growing interest in “The Barney Bar” and hopes it will be a hit among hotels, bars and malls looking to reduce human contact during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
Robot bartender, soulless cocktails
Barney the bartender can mix 16 different liqueurs and 8 different drinks for customers who place their orders via their mobile phones, as well as offering beer and prosecco. The robot, who can disinfect his robotic arm himself, tells them their drink is ready via a large video display above the bar.
A "barista" version has also been developed which produces different types of coffee. Both versions can be enriched by a "conversational module". This way the bartender Barney can make "jokes" that would make a Big Puppy melt instantly. For example, I kid you not, a chilling series of jokes about how he was offered a role in the latest Terminator film.
“We are getting some interest,” the chief sales officer told Reuters Gery Colombo. “We think Barney can be a fun attraction that can bring people into a bar because it's always moving and it's so different.”
Dear it costs me, this bartender
Although the expected clientele, restaurants and hotels, were initially unable to spend due to the crisis, the situation is slowly changing, Colombo said. Each model costs around 120.000 euros. Dear, right? But he does not stop, he does not want the thirteenth, and in 6 years he equalizes the cost of a human bartender: from then on it is only profit. You shiver.
We are receiving double the number of requests compared to last year. It could definitely be a boon for customers who want a bartender who can work 24 hours a day, able to serve exactly the drinks customers want while reducing human contact.
Gery Colombo, F & P Robotics
The Zurich company, which produces the robot and its operating software, has so far sold “parts” to China and Oman, where the cybernetic mocktail-making bartender works in a shopping mall.
And what about us in Europe?
In old Europe (but indeed, also in large areas of Asia) they are working on a parallel robotic bartender project, but it is not clear (and I highly doubt it) whether it will ultimately be able to replace a human bartender. Of course, the advent of machines capable of carrying out all or part of these tasks will change something.
