Swiss robot ‘Barney’ ready to mix cocktails and tell jokes amid pandemic

A Swiss robot developed by the Zurich-based F & P Robotics is grabbing global attention for taking on the role of a bartender in the current socially-distanced era.

Barney, a fully automated robot which can mix dozens of cocktails and make jokes, is seeing rising interest at “The Barney Bar”. The developers hope it will be a hit among hotels, bars and shopping centres looking to reduce human contact during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are getting quite a bit of interest,” Chief Sales Officer Gery Colombo told news agency Reuters. “We think Barney can be a fun attraction, that can bring people to a bar because he’s constantly moving and is so different,” he said.

Each ‘Barney’ model costs around $130,719 (or approximately Rs 98,64,840). According to Gery, although the expected clientele, primarily restaurants and hotels, was initially apprehensive of such a bargain amidst the ongoing crisis, the situation is slowly changing. “We are getting double the amount of enquiries compared with last year. It could definitely be an advantage for customers who want a barman who can work 24 hours a day, can serve exactly the drinks customers want while also reducing human contact,” he told Reuters.

The robot can mix 16 different spirits and eight different sodas as well as serve beer and prosecco for customers, and inform them when their drink is ready through a large video display above the bar.

A barista version which can whip up coffee has also been developed. Both versions can be installed with conversations and jokes to engage the customers.

Keeping in view Covid protocols, the robot can also disinfect his own arm. The customers are supposed to place their orders via their mobile phones.

The robotics company, which has developed both the robot and its operating software, has so far sold robots to China and Oman, where a mocktail-making robot works in a shopping mall.

Robot bartenders also cropped up in South Korea last year, when the pandemic hit the globe and businesses were affected due to safety and distancing protocols. In Seoul’s Coffee Bar K, a six-foot-tall robot in a bow tie called Cabo can do tricks and narrate his actions behind the bar, while a robotic arm shakes up cocktails at the Café Bot Bot Bot coffee bar. Robot bartenders have been appreciated for their fast and consistent work and for encouraging customers to return to establishments and making them feel safer amid the pandemic.