by Whatever next! ....
The restaurant cat robot waiter that meows at dining customers
A robot cat designed to ferry plates of food to restaurant customers has been unveiled at the CES tech expo in Las Vegas.
BellaBot, built by the Chinese firm PuduTech, is one of a number of wacky robotic inventions being shown off at the event this year.
There is also UBTech's Walker, which can pull yoga poses.
And Charmin's RollBot. It speeds a roll of toilet paper on demand to bathrooms that have run out of the stuff.
One expert said it was likely that robots exhibited at CES would only continue to get more bizarre in the future.
BellaBot, the table-waiting robot cat, is a service bot with personality.
The device has four trays, each capable of bearing up to 10kg of grub
It updates a previous model that had a more utilitarian design. BellaBot, in contrast, features a screen showing cat-face animations
It mews when it arrives at tables to encourage customers to pick up their food.
And if the diners stroke BellaBot's ears, it initially reacts with pleasure.
"The owner's hand is so warm," the bot is programmed to say in response.
But if customers continue petting it for too long, its expression changes.
"It gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job," explains the firm.
The Chinese company is targeting the machine at restaurant owners in China, who often struggle to employ enough waiting staff, according to PuduTech.
The firm's existing robots are already in use at 2,000 restaurants worldwide.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51003084
The restaurant cat robot waiter that meows at dining customers
A robot cat designed to ferry plates of food to restaurant customers has been unveiled at the CES tech expo in Las Vegas.
BellaBot, built by the Chinese firm PuduTech, is one of a number of wacky robotic inventions being shown off at the event this year.
There is also UBTech's Walker, which can pull yoga poses.
And Charmin's RollBot. It speeds a roll of toilet paper on demand to bathrooms that have run out of the stuff.
One expert said it was likely that robots exhibited at CES would only continue to get more bizarre in the future.
BellaBot, the table-waiting robot cat, is a service bot with personality.
The device has four trays, each capable of bearing up to 10kg of grub
It updates a previous model that had a more utilitarian design. BellaBot, in contrast, features a screen showing cat-face animations
It mews when it arrives at tables to encourage customers to pick up their food.
And if the diners stroke BellaBot's ears, it initially reacts with pleasure.
"The owner's hand is so warm," the bot is programmed to say in response.
But if customers continue petting it for too long, its expression changes.
"It gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job," explains the firm.
The Chinese company is targeting the machine at restaurant owners in China, who often struggle to employ enough waiting staff, according to PuduTech.
The firm's existing robots are already in use at 2,000 restaurants worldwide.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51003084
I wish we had one of those restaurants near us.
by 
61-BLUES
