Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more
A restaurant in the Swiss city of Lausanne has added a new worker to their staff. The twist? This employee would probably appreciate a charge over a salary as the new member of the team, called “Bella”, is a robot. However, its time in the workforce may soon be over, as although the robot has been a hit with customers, it has been beset by technical faults.
Bellabot wows customers in Swiss city of Lausanne
The robot, which can carry four plates to and from the kitchen at a time, is already a hit with customers, according to Grégory Luce from the Lausanne Brasserie de Chauderon in Canton Vaud. Speaking to Blick, he said the BellaBot is designed to help ease the pressure off other members of staff while providing a pleasant distraction for guests.
To help it find tables, Bella can count on a number of sensors to guide it to the right customers. The bot can also fully communicate with patrons, crack jokes and - weirdly - meow quite convincingly.
Surprisingly, the Brasserie de Chauderon is not the first to use robots as serving staff: a number of restaurants in France already use the system to help staff cope with the continual shortage of workers. You can see how BellaBot works in the video below:
Robot waiter in Vaud has to handle continual glitches
However, before we welcome a future of being served by highly competent artificial intelligence, the restaurant has reported some fairly major teething problems. Luce explained that when the venue is full and guests get in the way of the machine, Bella can get confused and start spinning in circles in what can only be described as an automated panic.
"A robot will never replace a human being, it is there as a supplement to make a bit of a show," he told Blick. In fact, he confirmed that while they are able to continually make updates to the technology, Bella may lose its job in the next one to two years if the issues persist.