New Delhi: With the recent opening of a robot themed restaurant in China, you may get a glimpse of what dining out in the future could look like? The restaurant in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, opened last week has a total of 18 robots that do everything, including preparing meals, serving food and ushering patrons to their tables. The restaurant owner says that robots will serve mankind one day.
After reading this, the only curious question in your mind will be - can any such thing happen in India? Well, you definitely have a dubious answer to conclude, somewhere in between may be or may be not. Adding up to the doubtful state, the other uncertain thing will be, that if it is possible then how long will it take? A few years or decades?
With India pacing fast and faster in its technological advancements and making almost everything automatic, the idea of robots, robots oriented services seems not so far fetched. Independent India is 60 years young! And it is time to look back and reminisce on all we have accomplished.
India today has evolved into a global provider of software and business process services. By the close of fiscal 2007, the IT industry is expected to generate $47 billion in revenue, at a growth rate of 30 per cent per annum, employing more than 1.6 million people.
There are several R&D startups doing cutting research, changing mindsets, and infusing a risk-taking culture. The Indian telecom sector too has made an imprint on the global industry. India has almost 200 million telephone connections making it the third largest network in the world after China and the US.
Despite such facts and stats, robotics culture in India is yet not popular unlike other countries. The idea of robots doing the daily routine works and services seems a bit fictional to us. Robotics and Robots is not a hackneyed topic in India, rather it's a distinct topic in its developing stages. Akash Gupta, leader of Team Acyut4, India's first indigenously designed humanoid, says, " To promote robotics industry in India we need to strive a change in the way robotics is perceived in India, in the level at which the average interested student is introduced to robotics, and the way robotics is taught."
Although India has strengthened an industrial base in the country for development of robotics with the development of a fully automated mobile robot Daksh, acquired by Indian Army and developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Eureka Forbes had back in 2010 launched Robocleanz, India's first automatic vacuum cleaner. Products such as the Robocleanz brings Indian households a step closer to the amazing world of robotics.
The entry of robots into Indian homes will definitely take time but is not inaccessible. If you remember the late 1980's American science fiction sitcom 'Small Wonder' then you can surely imagine a day when robots will be domesticated and will be a part of our families. You will only need to command and your personal robot will be there at your service.
Getting back to the question of robot restaurants in India, Samay Kohli, young director of a robotics startup company called Grey Orange Robotics in Delhi, says, "The idea of opening such restaurant in India is very creative and can possibly be a hit. If the robots are indigenously made then the idea is feasible and affordable too. The only problem in country like India is the complexity of Indian cuisine. It may be an expensive plan to set up but there will be definitely a good market in metro cities."
We can still keep the hopes alive of having such restaurant in India soon. Given the pace of robotics in India it will be at least a couple of years when we can dine in such a high-tech restaurant.
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