A disabled woman who can’t leave her house shared a sweet conversation with a tourist through a robot – which allows her to work as a waitress at a restaurant remotely, from home.
All staff at Dawn Avatar Robot Café are machines controlled by people with medical or physical limitations who cannot physically be there.
Although it’s not feasible for them to come in, diner can still remain connected to society through their jobs at the specialised diner.
A French travel content creator, who only goes by the name ‘ksouchh’, from Paris, went to the eatery and filmed his experience in an Instagram clip.
There, he met the waitress, who enjoyed a friendly chat with him through a white robot with pink lit-up eyes. The digital helper carried a tray of drinks to his table.
The pair greeted each other by saying hello, before he then asked: ‘Where are you now?’ She responded: ‘I’m in Saitama in Japan, do you know Saitama?’
The man then said he wasn’t familiar with where she was, but recognised the name of the city.
He then asked: ‘Where is it?’ And the woman responded: ‘Next to Tokyo, not far from here. But I have a disease so I can’t go out at all.
Dawn Avatar Robot Café in Tokyo is a place where all the waiting staff are robotic and are controlled remotely by people with medical or physical limitations
‘So I am using the robot. I come here and I can work here.’
‘That’s perfect,’ the travel vlogger said, with the woman thanking him for his kindness.
The pair ended the heartwarming interaction by saying ‘arigatou gozaimasu’, the polite way to say thank you in Japanese.
He then filmed the robot slowly turning around and rolling away from their table.
The video went viral, racking up 4.5million views, with many people commenting their opinions on the situation.
One wrote: ‘Work from home waitress????? Omg Japan is next level.’
A second said: ‘Bless her and her robot. Hope she had or will have a good recovery.’
A third penned: ‘See, we need this type of stuff instead of AI.’
French travel content creator who only goes by the name ‘ksouchh’, from Paris, went to the eatery and filmed his experience
The video went viral, racking up 4.5million views, with many people commenting their opinions on the situation
A fourth commented: ‘This is how we should be doing this as opposed to having automatic robots.’
Inside the cafe, around ten avatar robot waiters drive around each table, helping both locals and tourists enjoy their time there.
There is also a barista robot, a robot behind the bar, and a few more tiny robots dotted around the cafe.
While there are humans in the cafe to help assist with making drinks and meals, the robots serve everything to customers and chat with them.
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Another content creator named Maz, who is half Japanese though born and raised in London, travelled to Dawn Avatar Robot Café and spoke to Travel about her experience last year.
She said: ‘The robots can all speak. Each avatar features a camera on the robot’s forehead, a microphone and speaker, so that the pilots can communicate with customers as if they were standing right in front of them.
‘The robots can perform simple movements, such as nodding their head or raising their hand, all through eye-tracking technology.
‘I interacted with so many of them. A robot greeted me at the entrance and explained how the cafe works, then I spoke to my robot waiter and with the mini robots by the bar.
‘Because I can speak Japanese, I was able to learn about the lives of many of the pilots.
‘It was fascinating to hear their stories and their appreciation for the job, which allows them to feel less isolated and more social during their week.
‘They are all lovely and are very keen to converse with their tables in English.
‘Most of the robots have iPads stationed beside them, so that you can see a photo of the person piloting the robot and where in the world they’re logging in from.’
Maz said the service from the robots was great, adding that her green tea and juice ‘came within minutes’ and none of them made a mistake.