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Journalism of Courage
Robots are taking over! This is partially correct because we just learned that there is a Starbucks that has robots serving steaming coffee to people. South Korean tech company, Naver, recently shared a video of Starbucks in its office. Interestingly, this one was not like your usual Starbucks, as it staffed over 100 robots delivering coffee and other items throughout the building.
The video is shot at Naver 1784, the company’s new office building in Seongnam, South Korea. The company claims that 1784 is a “giant testbed” where the company continues to challenge itself and experiment for a better future. The second floor of the office has the world’s most unique Starbucks, with over 100 service robots that are called ‘Rookie’. These robots deliver Starbucks drinks to meeting rooms and private seats. They are dual-arm robots that are also part of numerous experiments.
Reportedly, Rookies are autonomous wheeled robots that navigate the 36-storeyed building. They deliver coffee, bring packages, and lunch to the office staff. The Rookie bots are reportedly assisted by dual-armed ‘Armidex’ robots and these are lightweight and efficient and known to have safer human interactions.
The Rookie robots are connected to Naver’s ARC system which allows control of navigation, planning, and processing for the entire fleet through cloud computing. The company has also developed a RoboPort, an elevator system that allows robots to move quickly and efficiently between floors.
Naver’s use of robots in the real world, even though it is a testing ground, is a glimpse of the possibilities ahead. We can well see robots being used in various service sectors and they will likely be integrated into the mainstream sooner than ever.
Naver Corporation is a South Korean internet conglomerate which has its headquarters in Seongna. The company is known for its search engine Naver and is also the pioneer in the use of user-generated content through its platform Knowledge iN. The companies affiliates include Snow, Naver Labs, Naver Cloud, Naver Webtoon, and Works Mobile.
