Robots have been hired to greet customers, take their temperatures and serve them drinks at a restaurant in the Netherlands.
Dadawan, an Asian-fusion restaurant in Maastricht, reopened on 1 June as part of measures to ease lockdown restrictions in the Netherlands. And to help with social distancing, the restaurant has hired three robots named Amy, Aker and James. The humanoid robots have mechanical arms, torsos and LED-lit faces and take on some of the customer-facing tasks to reduce person-to-person contact.
James greets customers at the door as maître d'. He then scans customers body temperatures. If they don't have a high fever, Jamie's face turns from blue to green (giving customers a literal green light to enter) and then he escorts them to their table. Amy serves drinks, which staff load on to her tray and direct her to customers by entering the table number into her system. Aker comes along at the end to collect used dishes, cups and cutlery from the table. Human waiters take orders, serve food and disinfect tables.
Dadawan's owner Danny Deng told RTV: "these robots are an extra touch within the 'new normal' that we will continue to apply in the event of success."
Under post-lockdown rules, Dutch restaurants and bars are only allowed to permit a maximum of 30 customers, excluding staff, and must observe the 1.5 metre distance rule. Some businesses have found creative solutions to keeping customers apart, such as Mediamatic Eten, a waterfront restaurant in Amsterdam, which seats its guests in 'serres séparées' or separated greenhouses.
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