Meet 'Ananya': The robot server taking over a restaurant in West Bengal
Times of India | 27 July 2024
NEW DELHI: A restaurant located beside a national highway in West Bengal is serving multi-cuisine dishes to its customers in a unique way.
Instead of human servers, a robot named Ananya is responsible for delivering food from the kitchen to the tables.
The robot, which can walk and talk, politely asks anyone blocking its path, "Please let me go. Please don't stand in the way and allow me to serve."
'Ananya', painted in white and standing about 5 feet tall, has a rectangular 'face' that functions as a sensor-driven digital screen.This feature helps the kitchen staff identify the correct table to which the food should be delivered.
The robot has four vertically placed shelves to carry the food, but no hands. Human staff at the table take the food from the tray and serve it to the amazed patrons, who are often trying to cope with the astonishment of having a walking and talking machine next to their table.
If faced with an obstacle, Ananya can turn right or left without spilling the food or toppling over.
The restaurant, named Mother's Hut, is run entirely by women from the local community. They handle everything from housekeeping and cooking to managing the cash counter and reception desk.
The four robots are all named 'Ananya', which means "invincible," to represent the resilience and fighting spirit of every woman.
The name is also a tribute to a former staff member named Ananya, who was one of the restaurant's first three employees.
The introduction of the 'Ananya' robots has increased the popularity of the restaurant, attracting diners from Kolkata and nearby towns.
Children, are thrilled to have their food served by a robot and often take selfies with it. The robots were assembled by the restaurant's IT team in collaboration with an unnamed Indian software company.
The restaurant's co-owner, Anath Bandhu Garai, revealed plans to introduce more robots within a year, aiming to fully automate the services, from cooking to plating and serving, with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This automation is expected to reduce the workload on the women staff, allowing them to focus on adding value to the service.
Once implemented, Mother's Hut could be labeled as the only AI-driven, AI-themed restaurant in the eastern region of India.
However, some patrons believe that while robots and humanoids may be the future, they cannot replace the emotion and personal touch in such services.