Posted on 01/29/2006 12:22:18 AM PST by jb6
Japanese beer maker Asahi plans to give away 5000 personal bartending bots, each of which can store up to six cans of beer in a refrigerated compartment within its belly. At the push of a button the simple robots will open a can and pour the chilled contents into a glass for a thirsty owner.
To win one of the beer-bots, in a promotion for the company's new low malt beer, contestants must collect 36 tokens found on the specially marked beers. But the competition, starting in February, is only open to those in Japan.
Some robotics experts see the promotion as a fun way to promote a wider interest in robotics. Others, however, say it is a gimmick that distracts from genuine robot research.
"I'm not sure about bar-tending, but for home robots I think there is a big market," says Gaurav Sukhatme, a robotics expert at the University of Southern California, US.
Sukhatme believes the robot should help broaden public enthusiasm for robotics. "Companies will often build things like this for advertising but I don't think it's a distraction [from academic research]."
Cleaners and entertainers "I think the sector of home robots in general is about to boom," adds Magnus Wurzer, who organised an event featuring cocktail-making robots in Vienna, Austria in November 2005. "At the moment the home products called robots are but toys, but this will change, features will be added, production will get cheaper."
But Ronald Arkin of Georgia Institute of Technology, US, says the new contraption is a poor advertisement for home robots - which can be more sophisticated. "Home robots are already present," he told New Scientist. "Roomba and Aibo are two good examples - the former for cleaning, the latter for entertainment."
Arkin adds that the beer bot does nothing sophisticated by current research standards and is "just an example of what people can do with robots to gather attention towards a product."
He does, however, see one potential benefit for the company. "It may be cheaper than a Hollywood star," he notes.
| Beer Pouring Robot, Finally! ~ Is this the Ultimate Robot? |
||
| Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach On General/Chat 01/28/2006 8:31:43 PM CST · 9 replies · 82+ views gizmodo.com ^ | Thursday26January2006 | staff Beer Pouring Robot, Finally! READ MORE: Gadgets, Japan Only, beer This is it, it has finally happened. I think I can confidently say that regardless of anything else posted here, nothing will ever top this gadget. This is Asahi, a beer pouring robot from Japan. It can refrigerate up to six cans of beer, two mugs, and with a simple push of a button it will pour a beer into the mug with perfect head every time. It gets even better too, this thing is free! Kind of. You have to collect 36 seals found on specially marked Asahi beer,... |
||
Heh Heh.
I fore see this as a no sale toy.
We have a similar bot that was fun for about an hour it has been buried in a closet ever since.
My wife's volume button is stuck on...
Is this a 3 foot robot with a flat head?
Scotch?
They are missing the perfect sales pitch:
"BEER! IT'S GOOD FOR WHAT ALES YOU!"
Yeah, that's one thing I miss about my ex-wife...
Gad! Squirrel, where did you steal that photo from?
That's the price of being a celebrity on FR... No privacy.
LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.