Drinking and driving is not a safe or legal practice. But, what if you could hail a bar cab that makes a drink for you? Six years ago the world was first introduced to a robotic bar, Makr Shakr, that could reportedly mix “one Googol (the digit 1 followed by 100 zeroes) drink combinations.” Since then, designers have been working toward a new goal: putting the tech into an autonomous vehicle people can call upon for a beverage.
The idea comes from the minds at the Italian design firm Carlo Ratti Associati. The present version of the robot bar uses two robotic arms to whip up a drink. The arms respond to customer orders placed through an app, and then the arms mix, shake, and stir more than 60 different ingredients. It’s said that the robotic bartender was informed by the “best bartenders in the world” and their movements mimic that of the “best dancer in the world.” That’s one fancy bar.
In the newest concept the Guido, the Makr Shakr bar will be faceted to an open-sided self-driving vehicle that can be called to a user’s location through an app. Once the cab arrives, the same app can then be used to place drink orders. And in responsible bar fashion, customers will have to produce their ID’s for scanning before purchase, that can be completed via a smartphone.
CEO of the spin-off Makr Shakr company, Emanuele Rossetti, says, “Guido is the application of a city-on-demand paradigm. By matching Makr Shakr’s robotic bartenders with the mobility systems of the future researched by CRA [Carlo Ratti Associati], we can put forward a new idea for the experience of leisure.”
The term Guido, is actually Italian for “I drive,” making the name a fun play on words. Development for the system is set to begin this year.
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