It’s the Dawn of a new restaurant experience.

A few years back, we reported on Dawn ver. Beta, a cutting-edge cafe that employed paralyzed people as waiters by giving them robots to pilot remotely. At the time, it was just a limited-run test project, but now, we are happy to report that Dawn has found a permanent home in Chuo Ward, Tokyo.

And rather than just people with paralysis, Avatar Robot Cafe Dawn ver. Beta employs people who are unable to leave their homes easily for a number of reasons, such as any physical or mental condition or responsibilities like providing round-the-clock care for an elderly relative. Our writer Mariko Ohanabatake stopped by recently to try out this cafe’s food and truly unique customer service.

Like many people in Japan, Mariko has been to the increasing number of restaurants using robots to carry food and drinks to people’s tables, but they still lack that truly futuristic feeling that you’d expect from being served by an automaton. Dawn, however, made her really feel like she was stepping into science fiction.

This cafe has three tiers of seating. The first is free and allows customers to order food and drinks while they watch the robots interact. The second requires an entry fee, which includes a drink and gives customers occasional interactions with the OriHime units. The third tier, which Mariko opted for, is the most expensive but includes food and a drink, with full table service by the OriHime team.

Her server was Koki, a resident of Mie Prefecture over 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, who could speak and interact with Mariko through his OriHime robot sitting on a perch at her table. This OriHime was a stationary model but had an iPad that Koki could use to present the menu or other visual aids throughout the meal. As a veteran OriHime pilot, he was able to do it quite deftly.

Mariko is rather introverted and doesn’t easily strike up conversations with people she meets for the first time. Luckily, Koki was the opposite and eased her into a friendly chat by asking her to enjoy the contrast of a man speaking through a robot dressed like a girl and even offering to speak more like a girl if it would help.

The fact that they were both in different parts of Japan gave them a lot to talk about. Mariko mentioned that she’d never been to Mie, and Koki gave her a virtual tour by showing her some of the famous sights on his iPad.

It felt like only a moment had passed when the food arrived. The dish was carried by a human who was present in the restaurant, but her drink was brought by an OriHime-D model that could roll throughout the restaurant and was piloted by Machun.

As Machun slowly scooted up to the table, Mariko heard a cheerful “Sorry to keep you waiting…” and just as she did, Koki shouted out, “Good job, Machun!”

Machun replied, “Koki, is that you? Thanks! It’s hot again today, but let’s do our best.”

That’s when it dawned on Mariko that this really was a next-level robot experience. Unlike the lumbering carts that merely sense each other’s presence to avoid collisions, these human-controlled robots could truly interact with each other like people.

There were even times when two OriHime-D robots had trouble passing by each other in the restaurant, and both awkwardly tried to get out of the way. It was these kinds of human touches that made the meal a memorable experience.

It made our writer wonder, though. There were about 60 different pilots, and all the robots look very similar, so how could they distinguish each other? She asked Koki, and he explained that he could usually tell by their voice or general vibes, suggesting he could tell who someone is by the way they handled their robot.

It was always too easy for her to get distracted from her food, but she finally turned her attention to the dessert plate she ordered. Everything was delicious and prepared by an on-site human.

However, the coffee is made by two robots working in tandem but controlled by a single human pilot.

The large unit is a Nextage Tele-Barista, jointly developed by Kawada Technology and OryLab. It does the manual work to prepare the coffee, while the OriHime unit over its shoulder allows the pilot to see what’s going on and interact with others in the restaurant.

Customers can choose from among three types of beans and watch in awe as these bots start brewing.

Mariko was impressed by how well the Nextage could manipulate the French press and other equipment. It reminded her a little of Edward Scissorhands.

It was not without its setbacks, however. Nextage’s biggest challenge was picking up single thin objects like trays or paper cups. This one accidentally grabbed two cups instead of one and tossed them away, shouting, “That’s not right!”

▼ “Two cups were taken!”

But rather than coming across as clumsy, it reminded her of a master craftsman discarding his work because it didn’t meet his high standards.

Sure enough, the coffee was really well made. It was refreshingly easy to drink and delicious.

After returning to her table, our writer decided to learn a little more about her waiter and gave him an impromptu interview. Koki first explained that he became paralyzed from the neck down after injuring his cervical spine in an accident while diving into a swimming pool in 1991. He had done other odd jobs from home, such as translation, before spending the last eight years as an OriHime pilot.

▼ Koki’s profile and social media links

He said that the time of his accident was before Japan began changing its attitude towards disabled people and accessibility. This left him feeling like a burden to others and increasingly withdrawn from society.

Koki: “In the beginning, I would say ‘thank you’ to someone who helped me. But after saying it over and over again, I started to feel guilty and ‘thank you’ eventually became ‘I’m sorry.'”

I can see how it would feel awkward to have to ask someone for help any time you wanted to do something. I sometimes have trouble asking for help too…

Koki: “Ory Yoshifuji, the creator of OriHime, describes it as feeling like you’re in a debt of gratitude to others.”

That’s a really good way of putting it.

Koki: “But working at the Avatar Cafe gives me more chances to hear people say ‘thank you’ to me, which makes me happy. Before this, I was always thanking people, but was rarely thanked myself.”

That’s great! Has anything else changed since becoming an OriHime pilot?”

Koki: “Hmm, probably that I don’t give up as easily anymore.”

Oh, what do you mean by that?

Koki:  “For example, when people invited me to do something, I used to turn them down right away, saying it was impossible. But now, I consider whether I can get someone to help me or find ways to make things work. Of course, there are still times where it’s just impossible, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Koki then showed Mariko some of the things he has tried, including carrying the torch for the Tokyo Olympics, lecturing at universities, and guiding former Prime Minister Kishida at a G7 summit. As he mentioned, he’s not just giving up any more and living a very full life as a result.

▼ Pictures of Koki giving various talks and volunteering at the Olympics

▼ Pictures of Koki assisting then prime minister Fumio Kishida

Mariko thought that this kind of technology, which gives anyone the opportunity to do what they want, really feels like the future. Of course, she knows that not everyone can meet the prime minister, but just being a slightly more active member of society makes a big difference.

The conversation was getting a little heavy, so Koki lightened the mood by singing “Hey Jude” even though his profile said he was more into hard rock.

OriHime inventor Ory Yoshifuji said the system was created to eliminate loneliness. Rather than mere machines that allow people to communicate remotely, a lot of thought was put into the design of OriHime to achieve Yoshifuji’s goal. Mariko could really sense this, as communication just seemed to flow out naturally all over the Avatar Robot Cafe, to the point that our normally shy writer was even striking up conversations with other customers.

There was something disarming about talking to another person through a cute robot, and they weren’t just helping people who can’t leave their homes; they were helping everyone who goes there.

Cafe information
Avatar Robot Cafe Dawn ver. Beta / 分身ロボットカフェ DAWN ver.β
Address: Nihonbashi Lifescience Building 3 (1F), Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Nihonbashihoncho 3-8-3
東京都中央区日本橋本町3-8­-3日本橋ライフサイエンスビルディング3（1F）
Hours: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Closed Thursdays (unless a public holiday)
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]