New York-based startup Barsys recently announced the Coaster, a smart saucer that guides the user on how to create a particular cocktail. By connecting the coaster to a smartphone with the complimentary app downloaded, users can choose from Barsys' existing library of cocktails or input their own recipe. Once a cocktail is selected, the user can simply start pouring ingredients one by one, and with each new alcohol or mixer, the coaster will light up when the correct amount has been added to the glass. The Barsys Coaster is regularly priced at US$149 (S$203), but interested customers can pre-order it here for US$95 (S$130). The device will start shipping in December.

Holiday shopping can be quite stressful. After dealing with traffic, crowded stores and overpriced merchandise you may just want to rest and perhaps have a nice stiff drink. Well if you happen to be shopping in London, you are in luck. London department store Selfridges has installed a robot bartender from Makr Shakr. It will be located at the Smartech store on the lower ground floor and will be serving a wide variety of drinks to stressed-out shoppers.

The future both thrills and frightens us. Mark Shakr revealed its self-driving bar, which combines an autonomous vehicle with robotics capable of serving up the finest adult beverages. No matter where a thirsty soul stands, the Makr Shakr "Guido," as the company calls it, can serve up a drink on the spot. The concept envisions users placing and order and paying for their drink of choice via an app and Guido will mix it up and deliver the drink. No human interaction is required at all.

The silver-and-turquoise lounge, in the Miracle Mile Shops mall on the Strip, has 28 counter-style seats, each equipped with a tablet, facing a bar counter topped with two industrial-grade robotic arms. Patrons can order signature and classic cocktails, or fill a virtual cup with up to 14 ingredients of their choosing. Then the robotic arms go to work, gathering ingredients from a kind of futuristic back-bar automat; reaching up to a lattice of 120 liquor bottles; and tipping the resulting cocktail into a plastic cup proffered by a mechanical dispenser in the counter. Drinks take 60 to 90 seconds to make, and cost $12 to $16, said Stephan Mornet, president of Robotic Innovations, Tipsy Robot's parent company. For its automated bar, Tipsy Robot turned to Makr Shakr, an Italian startup that built its first robot bartender for Google I/O, the annual developer conference, in 2013. The company is one of several trying to automate bartending.

They were once seen as the holiday of choice for the over-60s looking for cabaret and formal dining. Now, cruise companies are pushing the boat - or ship - out in an attempt to attract younger customers through the use of futuristic tech. From bionic bars to high-speed internet and even puzzle rooms, the latest launch of Harmony of the Seas is hoping to introduce these gadgets to a wider audience. The Bionic Bar, pictured, is powered by roboticists at Makr Shakr. Customers order cocktails, from either a set a menu or by designing their own concoction, and the order is sent to a pair of single-armed robots attached to a makeshift'bar' Harmony of the Seas made its inaugural sailing last weekend and started its first trip to Rotterdam on Tuesday.