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New and improved voice AI
Drive-thru voice AI has been one of the biggest tech trends over the past couple of years, and a few of the most prominent voice AI companies were showing off the latest versions of their voice technology, including Soundhound and Xina. Some of the biggest challenges of voice ordering AI in the drive-thru lane is knowing when the AI should stop listening to the customer, so Soundhound customers have to say “Ok I’m done” when finished with an order.
Xina restaurant voice ordering system, doubling as a fully functioning POS system — which puts its AI software into kiosks and tablets for use in dining rooms and hotel rooms — doesn’t have this issue because customers have to press and hold a button in order for the AI to “listen” the request, and it will stop listening once you let go.
AI is getting smarter and learning differences in human accents, slang, and corrections to orders. For example, Cal Sconnely, founder of Xina AI, said that the AI uses machine learning to learn that “burger” means “hamburger” and will know that for the next time someone orders a burger.
Beverage robots
While 2022 was all about the server robots, this year on the Show floor, there were plenty of beverage-making robots, from AI baristas to automated bartenders.
For example, Robojo is a customizable coffee-making robot system that allows customers to input their orders on a touchscreen, Robojo will begin making the coffee, and the screen will be able to tell customers when to expect their order. The robot can even make up to four drinks at once. As a winner of the 2023 NRA Show Kitchen Innovation awards, this robot barista might not be very practical (it takes up a lot of space) but would especially be useful in nontraditional locations like hospitals and airports where there is more room.
The technology is outfitted with WMF-5000S+ Super Automatic Espresso machines, a nugget ice machine, two latte art printers in partnership with Ripple, a refrigerator, and a Kawasaki robotic arm.
Just as Robojo can possibly replace a few baristas for cafes with staffing challenges, Cecilia the Robot bartender is also designed to replace certain aspects of a bartender’s job. When we tried Cecilia — who looks like an animated female bartender on a touchscreen — on the Show floor, she was having a lot of trouble hearing what we were saying. However, you can both use voice activation and touchscreen options to place your order for a mixed drink.
Cecilia the bartender does also have her limitations because she can only make pre-programmed cocktails, but she can offer recommendations based on taste preference and works much like a more animated cocktail vending machine. Cecilia also can detect up to 40 languages and has a built-in ID scanner to make sure the person ordering alcohol is of legal drinking age.
Cobots
We already spoke quite a bit about the importance of cobots — or robots that are meant to work alongside humans — and they were on display at the National restaurant Association Show. Two of the biggest producers of cobots are Middleby (which makes a fry-bot arm that can dip fries into hot oil and bring the fry basket back out again), and Nala Robotics, which was showing off its dishwashing cobot. Both brands make robots that are space-savers and can be easily maneuvered around by human coworkers in the kitchen.
The newest kitchen robot Nala Robotics was showing off was a bowl-making robot, which would most easily be used on an assembly line at a fast-casual restaurant to cook (meat, rice, and vegetables), and assemble lunch bowls for customers. It’s considered a mini cobot and weighs between 10-20 pounds, and much like the Middleby robots are meant to alleviate some of the labor challenges. The Bowl Bot can run 24/7 and is also self-cleaning, which again allows brands to rely on more efficient automation than human hands.
Upgraded kitchen automation
From automated pizza ovens to nigiri sushi machines, automation has been a huge part of the restaurant industry for decades. But on the show floor, we saw some newer models of kitchen automation equipment that use smart, cloud-based technology to improve output.
An example is the stir fry machine by Botin Robotics. The stir fry machine might look like a front-facing washing machine, but it allows kitchen staff at Chinese restaurants to eliminate some of the time-consuming steps of constant cooking. On the software side, operators can input recipes and the AI will be able to spit out a recipe that tells workers exactly when to add specific ingredients while the machine is constantly tossing, stirring and cooking meals like chicken and broccoli or fried rice. The only clear downside is that the AI is clearly not meant to work on its own and requires a human being to input ingredients and sauces. But the machine is not meant to get rid of labor altogether but rather get rid of the need for skilled labor, which cofounder Giggs Huang is the number one staffing challenge for Asian restaurants.
“In reality, the restaurant should have no need of a professional cook,” Huang said. “He just needs someone to prepare the food and the operator to operate this machine and input all the ingredients. You just need to know how to follow instructions.”
