The idea of technology-based restaurants isn’t a new one, but a Chicago-area company plans to take that idea to the extreme by making a robotic arm the center of its new restaurant.
The restaurant is scheduled to open in the Chicago suburb of Naperville in April. Nala Robotics, the restaurant’s operator, claims it will be the world’s first “intelligent restaurant.” The robotic arm will be able to do everything from collecting ingredients to cooking to cleaning dishes. The company adds that the artificial intelligence-powered robot will be able to produce as many as 10 different food concepts at once, including pizza, burgers and chicken wings. Ajay Sunkara, Nala’s president, says that the company plans to open more robot-operated locations domestically and internationally.
If the Nala concept succeeds, it will be in a segment that’s seen some tough sledding over the past few years as, for one reason or another, restaurants based primarily on technology have had a hard time finding success.
Nevertheless, there are increasing opportunities for robotic- or artificial intelligence-based equipment in foodservice. For example, delivery robots are a safer, low-touch alternative to human drivers for food delivery on college or business campuses. Artificial intelligence is helping POS systems to take orders directly from digital assistants like Amazon Echo. And AI is helping restaurants order more efficiently, by predicting demand levels based on previous usage.
The stories on the following pages will show you some innovative technological advances that can help any foodservice operation run more efficiently.
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