Curious people overflow a coffee shop. Dubbed Gordon, the barista pumps out orders in less than a minute. Comments like “OMG, he’s so cute” and “what’s going on here?” are whispered as phones snap pictures and videos to be posted on social media.
That’s right, Gordon is a robot.
In San Francisco, there are 2,613 coffee shops on the market, the highest density of coffee shops in the US. In such a competitive marketplace, Cafe X has an innovative technique to set them apart from the rest. Using San Francisco’s two favorite obsessions — hi-tech robots and hipster coffee — Cafe X explores the intersection of food and technology.
Knowing that Cafe X is using quality brands and putting the time into finding the perfect recipes, the drinks taste even better.
Nowadays, busy millenials in San Francisco particularly, hate waiting in line. In this era, things must happen quickly. Cafe X is the perfect solution for that. First, it’s incredibly efficient. When there were no other customers, Cafe X brewed drinks in less than a minute.
Enclosed in plexiglass, the kiosk (which looks like it came from a sci-fi movie) contains two coffee machines that brew various options such as americanos, espressos, cappuccinos, and lattes.
There is a sense of wonder when watching a robot make a drink. It’s like watching a science museum exhibit at work. Knowing that Cafe X is using quality brands and putting the time into finding the perfect recipes, the drinks taste even better.
Using Cafe X might be intimidating at first, but the steps are routinely simple. The customer is first prompted to order a drink from an app or tablets on site. A PIN is then sent to the customer’s phone, then punched on a keypad attached to the futuristic kiosk. The robot then places it on the window, which drops down as the screen proudly displays “Here’s your [fill in your drink]”. After the customer grabs their drink, the robot does a “happy dance” for three seconds and moves onto the next request. It’s easy, entertaining and fast, unlike the usual experience of a coffee shop rush hour where human error and delays can get in the way of getting a perfectly brewed cup.
However, Cafe X isn’t “fully” automated. At every location, passionate coffee experts explain how to order and answer any questions. The only problem is that the cafe is wireless. Without WiFi, the whole kiosk will shut down.
Cafe X is an obvious example of how automation is slowly creeping into our lives. With just one kiosk, it easily wipes out the jobs of four full-time human baristas. As of May 2015, the third largest overall occupation in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, were food preparation and service workers with a whopping 3.2 million people. Automation will take over jobs that can be done by robots, making tasks more precise and efficient, but what will happen to the 3.2 million people left jobless? We must make sure that we are ready for the moment when jobs will vanish from us.
In the future, Cafe X hopes to expand towards highly-trafficked places such as airports and university campuses, where efficiency and flavor is key. Though currently in business at the Metreon and on Market St, Cafe X is opening a “2.0” version on Bush Street, which hopes to be more welcoming, approachable, and helping promoting the work-life balance.
Super quick, super precise, super quality. That’s Cafe X.
What’s next for the Silicon Valley?
Oatly Matcha Latte ($3)
It’s vibrant green, balances the bitter and sweet of green tea, and is only three dollars.
The Oatly (Swedish oat milk) gives the latte a creamier flavor to it.
Compared to those in chain coffee houses, these drinks have a different tinge of flavor. Having ordered this drink four times, it tastes perfectly the same every time. For those who like perfection, Cafe X is the place to go. Human baristas can also frequently make mistakes, whether it’s too much milk, too much sugar, or the wrong order. Robot baristas will always uniformly produce the same order every time.
Oatly Caffe Latte ($3)
From the perspective of someone that doesn’t drink much coffee, this caffe latte was incredible.
The Matcha Latte is still prefered, but coffee aficionados will certainly love this drink.
Cafe X also partners with local roasters (Ritual, Equator, and Intelligentsia) to use their coffee beans.The robot is programmed to cater to each roaster’s unique tastes so that customers can experience drinks exactly the way roasters want to demonstrate their product.
