Interactive artificial intelligence or AI mixologist named Cecilia is the world's first-ever interactive robot bartender who's currently infiltrating the North Miami-based Florida International University's Chaplin and School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
As specified in a Miami Herald report, Cecilia "tells bad jokes." She asks as well, if an individual would prefer fruity or classy cocktails, and even suggests the best technique to drink tequila is as a shot along with lime and salt, even as she pours one a glass of margarita.
Approximately seven-feet tall, reports describe this invention as a robot bartender that can serve 120 cocktails per hour minus all the sweat.
According to the developers, Cecilia's existence does not mean world dominion or extinction of humans. Neither this robotic invention is stealing the job of future bartenders.
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A Cocktail Showdown presented by BACARD
Cecilia's Main Job
Her main job is to teach FIU's Bacardi Center of Excellence hospitality students about innovation and technology in their preferred field, and eventually, help businesses sell more beverages.
According to the director of Bacardi Center for Excellence and FIU hospitality professor Brian Connors, the idea of a robot bartender replacing human mixologists is far from reality.
He added this is a defined "mix of high tech and high touch hospitality." In this industry, he continued, it's always going to be people first, a team sport.
What the robot bartender is offering is complimentary. The developers introduce Cecilia as a site-particular supplement to high-volume areas such as sports stadiums, airport bars, and cruise ships, among others, where the lines for beverages are low and slow.
Limitations of What Cecilia Can Do
The robot bartender was reported to be a hit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month and is making her public debut on February 26 and 27 during the South Beach Wine and Food Festival on Minami Beach.
Paraira added that Cecilia can be customized according to the occasion. She can also be customized with the drinks she serves, language to use with up to 40 to choose from, not to mention branding and graphics.
Other roles the robot bartender can play to assist human servers include offering options for cashless payment and providing bar managers with dashboard analytics to present to them what beverages are popular, what customers have asked her, and what particular time of days are the busiest. Developers admit, there are limitations of course, to Cecilia's skills.
She cannot produce ice or cocktail garnishes like oranges, limes, and cherries, and thus those are constantly on the side, needing human attention.
Notably, this robot bartender can only make beverages from 12 different liquids as she only has 12 internal containers.
Assistant to Businesses and Human Mixologists
What's advantageous is that mixologists can load this robotic server up with delicious premixed beverages such as The Sunblazer, which, according to reports, earned the FIU Bartenders Guild a People's Choice Award during the 2021 Art of the Tiki contest. The drink is made from lemon juice, pineapple juice, honey syrup, and Barcadi Ocho, among other ingredients.
Another advantage is that Cecilia, also featured in a BBC News report, is offering "contactless interactions" and can assisting businesses to address labor scarcities or staff illnesses, critical elements during this time of health and safety protocols.
Report about Cecilia robot bartender is shown on CKI Group's YouTube video below:
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