East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) will start testing fully autonomous robotic baristas this December to serve coffee at its Tokyo and Yokohama stations, in a tie-up with a Singaporean retail technology startup. The company said the planned test-marketing involves the Ella robotic barista system developed by Crown Technologies Holding Pte. Ltd., which has had a business partnership with the railway operator since late last year. The unmanned system serves coffee through an automated ordering, serving and cashless payment process. It can serve more than 200 types of blended coffee and allows customers to use dedicated apps and railway-related IC cards for payment. JR East expects the upcoming market research at two of the busiest stations in Japan to pave the way for it to provide loyal customers with customized coffee by using artificial intelligence analysis of their preferences.

Travel agency H.I.S. Co. said Tuesday that a robot will serve coffee to customers at a cafe it plans to open next month at its flagship branch in central Tokyo. The agency will open its Henn Na Cafe (strange cafe) featuring a robotic arm and an automated coffee maker at its store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. The move will add to the company's series of services using robots, including at the Henn Na Hotel (strange hotel) in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, where a dinosaur robot welcomes guests at the front desk. At the Shibuya cafe, customers will be greeted by the U.S.-made robot, with an attached screen showing facial expressions. Would you like delicious coffee?" the machine asks in Japanese.