It can be said that the robot restaurant has a bright future. "We envision a high-tech, collaborative future in which robot kitchen assistants and employees work side by side, so that customers can enjoy delicious meals at any time. By combining artificial intelligence with robotics and connecting the needs and hopes of restaurant employees, we hope to set off a renaissance in this industry. "

Eatsa, a San Francisco-based restaurant company, accepts orders through the iPad and distributes food through automated machines. So far, Eatsa has been using this technology to provide fried rice with quinoa for health food lovers in its own restaurant. However, the company announced last Friday that it will expand its robot platform to Wow Bao, a fast food and leisure chain restaurant, next month.

In the Chicago-based Wow Bao restaurant, you can order your favorite food through its application or in the kiosk on site. But with Eatsa technology, you can also collect your food from the cubicle with LED lights, which can show your name. In front of the cubicle, there is a large screen that can display text content, telling you when your order has been made and when you can pick up your food by double-clicking the box.

for Eatsa, this is a rapid change. Just a few weeks ago, it also announced the closure of five of the seven restaurants in the country. The company now turns its focus to providing automation technology as a platform for other restaurants, such as Wow Bao.

The combination of artificial intelligence, personal screen, robotics, and (most importantly) the reluctance of hungry consumers to interact with humans has made the transformation of Eatsa possible. This is part of a slow-moving technology, which has changed the experience of eating out or even eating, thanks to the progress of express delivery technology.

today, the concept of Eatsa seems a bit strange, but Neil Stern, a senior partner of retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle, said that we expect to see more such technologies. He said: "Is it reasonable to hide orders and send information through cubicles? Maybe not. But Eatsa did put forward a vision for the future and copied or continuously strengthened it. "

on December 1st, the first Wow Bao with Eatsa technology will be opened in Chicago's Gold Coast community. Through this technology, Wow Bao plans to double the number of its stores in 218. The company currently has seven stores, including airports, university campuses, hotels and stadiums.

Geoff Alexander, president of Wowbao, said, "When I first heard about the opening of Eatsa in San Francisco, I jumped on a plane to see it." Alexander praised the technology as both interesting and efficient. He said: "I knew right away that Eatsa would be the perfect technology to integrate into our future stores."

does the robot belong to the kitchen? In Eatsa and Wow Bao stores, robot technology is the most important in restaurants. It provides services to customers and provides them with an on-call experience. In other restaurants, robots are still strictly confined to the kitchen.

In Cafe X and Zume in San Francisco, robots make lattes and pizzas respectively. California startup Miso Robotics has developed a kitchen assistant robot called Flippy, which will make hamburgers in a restaurant in California in early 218.

Flippy didn't just master the flipping operation. It also uses computer vision to track the barbecue patties, turn them into a perfect medium-sized food (or make hamburgers), and ensure that they can be cooked safely. This robot is made up of ready-made components, such as sensors, cameras and mechanical arms. The rest of the work is done by artificial intelligence, which may be trained to complete other kitchen tasks.

David Zito, CEO of p>Miso Robotics, said: "The beauty of our AI software is that Flippy can learn the most needed tasks, making it flexible and adaptable, and it can be suitable for all kitchens, not just fast food restaurants."

this may be a good thing for the restaurant, but it doesn't sound like good news for the restaurant staff. Unfortunately, for any chef who cooks fried food, the turnover rate in the catering industry is very high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the turnover rate of this industry was 76% last year. Therefore, owners and managers are looking for more stable alternatives.

earlier this year, Greg Creed, CEO of Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, told CNBC that he expected that by the mid-22s, more and more robots would take on the jobs of human roles. But he also provided some guarantees for the kitchen staff, pointing out that it would be "very difficult" to fully automate the restaurant.

He said, "In terms of using self-service terminals and mobile subscription, I think this part of the process will change. Manufacturing parts? I think we are still far from it. " Even Zito, who uses robots in the kitchen, said that he believes that human beings will continue to play an important role in the robot revolution.