Customers can find a cute kitty robot whizzing around serving food at a handful of Kamloops and Okanagan restaurants, but one restaurateur in Kelowna predicts it will take time before the bots become regular fixtures in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bots, called BellaBots, first started appearing at restaurants in the region at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tony Katsabanis, owner at Antico Pizza Napoletana in Kelowna, has had his bot for almost three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew the company importing the bots here to Canada, and they said \u2018try this out\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t looking to do it and it was just for fun to see what customers would say and people loved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt comes with the name Bella which is funny, we\u2019re an Italian restaurant and it has an Italian name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katsabanis\u2019 bot continues to be a popular feature of his restaurant, but he said in many cases the robots are limited in the industry by floor plans, at least for the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe problem with them is restaurants have to be designed around having automation,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have steps in your restaurant and the tables have to be a certain distance apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t just slap technology in there or you\u2019re going to do a big design change on your floor plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katsabanis said his restaurant happened to be designed to accommodate the robot by coincidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe new restaurants being built now and into the future will incorporate designs to take on more robot service and technology,\u201d he said. \u201cSame in the hotel business, they\u2019re using a robot to deliver food where it can talk to the elevator, it\u2019s connected through wifi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt can go to the right floor to deliver food but the elevator has to have the new technology in it, it\u2019d be extremely expensive to update an existing system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> Four season luxury Nordic spa proposed for Vernon hilltop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Katsabanis\u2019s restaurant, the bot Bella stands by the woodfire pizza oven waiting to deliver food. It can take four plates at a time to a table and senses when the plates have been taken. It says \u2018thank you\u2019 and whizzes back to stand waiting at the oven for more pizzas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s fun for the kids and it\u2019s easier on staff,\u201d Katsabanis said. \u201cWe have heavy plates and can only carry two around. This thing takes four, the food isn\u2019t waiting for a server so it\u2019s getting to the table hotter. The servers have more time to do others things, everyone is happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked if the technology is a threat to human jobs, Katsabanis said the bot is doing the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore technology is making us more efficient and we\u2019re able to drive more customers into the restaurant, tables are turning faster so staff levels don\u2019t change,\u201d he said. \u201cIf anything, staff size grows because we\u2019re doing that much more business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n READ MORE:<\/strong> BC privacy czar offers warning as Kamloops eyes Kelowna’s surveillance network<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over in Kamloops at least one restaurant is using a BellaBot to help out. Japanese sushi restaurant Oh Sushi Mura was quick to take on the new technology<\/a> and got its bot in late 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The BellaBot, designed by Pudu, uses 3D sensors to avoid obstacles and cost $15,000 each, according to its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Katsabanis bought a second bot he keeps in storage as a back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s become a big part of the business,\u201d he said. \u201cThe person who first brought it here was using pronouns to describe it, and it was weird. The funny thing is you get used to having it around, everyone starts using pronouns for it.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n