Bartenders of the Future?

There are some truly superb mixologists in the world and they have bought has some irresistible cocktail combinations that us mere mortals might never have been able to create ourselves. But how replaceable are they really? Could robots soon be serving us our Martinis and Mojitos?
Of course, the idea of a robot bartender is not a new one - Sci-Fi enthusiasts dreamt up that concept a long time ago. But in this world of self-service checkouts and coffee vending machines, we could be far closer to a Bar-Bot than you think!

Cocktails & Robots

Unveiled at last year's London Design Festival, this invention was inspired by Doctor Who. Created by ST Robotics and lighting company Factorylux, the robot uses audio frequencies to operate and works to the sounds of electronic frequencies by Delia Derbyshire, the creator of the Doctor Who theme song.

The Tipsy Robot

A bar in Las Vegas has already implemented the idea of robots in their bar. At the Tipsy Robot, patrons can head to the bar and enter their order into a touchscreen tablet. They can then watch on in amazement as two robot arms work together to create up to 100 drinks an hour.

Barbot 4

This mind-reading robot works a little differently to the others. Created by Robot Prest, the Barbot 4 features a headset that clips onto your earlobes and has a mindwave scanner just above the forehead that can read your thoughts. You select your drink through concentration - mentally moving through the robot's drinks menu before choosing the one you want through the power of meditation. You then have to use your voice to ask for your drink to be served. A great gimmick for early on in the evening, but goodness only knows what drinks you'll end up with if you try playing with this later on in the night!

Bionic Bar

Those lucky enough to have travelled aboard the Royal Caribbean Quantum cruise ships will be no stranger to robot bartenders, since the Bionic Bar has been a feature of these ships for the past four years. Every passenger on the ship is given a tablet, which they can order their drinks on and then go to collect them from the Bionic Bar where robotic arms have created their cocktail.

Bartendro

This cocktail-making robot is lightweight and portable, made for functions and events rather than permanent bars. You have to hook it up to your drinks and then use the admin screen to browse recipes and choose your cocktail. A product-in-the-making rather than a fully-realised idea, we don't think it will be long before this is a regular feature at parties!

What do you think? Can a robot really take-over from a bartender? Or is cocktail-drinking a more sociable event that requires human interaction? After all, you can't tell a robot all your problems and expect sympathy!