Due To Physical Distancing, This Restaurant In The Netherlands Uses Robots As Waiters

JAKARTA - Using robotic technology to dispel the corona virus or apply physical distancing is the best way at this time. Like a restaurant in the Netherlands that has replaced its human waiters as robots.

Quoted from the Associated Press, Monday June 1, the robot, clad in red and white and a small scarf around its neck, welcomes customers, serves food and takes used plates from diners' tables at the Royal Palace restaurant in the city of Renesse, Netherlands.

"Hello, welcome," the robotic greeting as customers entered the restaurant.

Apart from greeting customers, the robot's duties also include serving drinks and dishes, as well as returning used glasses and glassware.

It is known that many restaurants in the Netherlands have been closed for months during the pandemic, and many are starting to reopen, but with restrictions on the number of guests allowed. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned strange ideas into possibilities like this robotic technology.

"They help us like the work we do. We are often busy and clean the tables and robots give us extra help. We are not disappearing. We are still here. They will always need people in this industry," said restaurant owner Leah Hu.

Even though the robots will not catch COVID-19, they cannot help other human jobs such as changing chairs, overcoming problems when customers have food allergies, and providing special seats for babies.

"We will use it to ensure he and the customer have the required 1.5 meter (5 feet) distance during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Leah Hu.

With this robot waiter, restaurant owners have felt helped because it seems impossible to employ human servants in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic. It has been several months as well for the food service industry, as restaurants lost an estimated 5.5 million jobs in April alone.

But of course this technology is not yet fully used in all restaurants, including restaurants in the United States (US) and Indonesia itself in the near future due to cost issues that might make them a barrier for most small companies, but waiters are common in restaurants in China for several years.