Robot barista helps South Korean cafe with social distancing

The new robot barista at the cafe in Daejeon, South Korea, is courteous and swift as it seamlessly makes its way toward customers. "Here is your Rooibos almond tea latte, please enjoy. It's even better if you stir it," it says, as a customer reaches for her drink on a tray installed within the large, gleaming white capsule-shaped computer. After managing to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus that infected more than 11,000 people and killed 267, South Korea is slowly transitioning from intensive social distancing rules toward what the government calls "distancing in daily life." Robots could help people observe social distancing in public, said Lee Dong-bae, director of research at Vision Semicon, a smart factory solution provider that developed the barista robot together with a state-run science institute.