Photos: Dubai's RoboCafe is a boon to the COVID-wary

Nothing says social distancing quite like Dubai's RoboCafe, where robots have replaced their human overlords. Customers can place their orders with German-made robots, who then prepare and deliver it straight to their tables. | Above: A customer takes his drink which was prepared by a robot at the RoboCafe in Dubai Festival City.

RoboCafe has been in the works for more than two years, but its launch was delayed from March 2020 due to the pandemic. It finally opened last June, when restrictions in the United Arab Emirates were relaxed.

The RoboCafe was created with support from Dubai's government artificial intelligence initiative. Humans are only called upon when there are glitches, or to sanitise surfaces.

"The client orders from the screen here, then everything is reliant on artificial intelligence, [the robot] sorts out the orders by table and places it on the small service bot, and the service bot delivers it to the customer," said cafe's Executive Director, Rashid Essa Lootah.

German-made robots make the drinks, while the fully autonomous delivery bots are designed and made in the UAE.