20 Jun 2007 0731H

Beer pouring robot

From Tim.

When you think about all the questions and decisions that went into making this happen, it’s sort of mindblowing. For instance, why? Why create an $800 beer pouring robot that opens a can of beer and pours it for you, and not very quickly at that? I suppose there is a bit of kakkoii-ness to it as entertainment value, busy workers taking a brief moment out of the stressful day, feeling a bit brighter at the end of this experience.

The whole thing is very 1980s-ish. In this day and age there’s no reason to have the robot talk in a stereotypically tinny voice — it’s telling the user in audio as well as LED marquee what operation is happening next, declares the beer ready to drink at the end– but this brings up the idea that there is a kind of fun, retro and quaint quality to voice synthesis.

If only it could chill the mug for you too. Did you see that the robot stops pouring halfway to let the foam subside a bit before pouring the rest, perfectly? There ya go. That’s design, yo.

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