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Makr Shakr Robotic Bartender Offers Stirring Glimpse of the Future of Automation

08.16.19 | By
Makr Shakr Robotic Bartender Offers Stirring Glimpse of the Future of Automation

The media’s attention has primarily veered toward the imminent arrival of autonomous vehicles to drive us here and there, with nary a driver needed. But look around and you might already have noticed robots are already here and near, flipping burgers, greeting travelers and carrying luggage, and now, even serving your favorite cocktails. The Makr Shakr Robotic Bartender is the first robotic bartending system you can buy or rent for your next festive event.

Founded by MIT professor, Carlo Ratti, the Makr Shakr robotic system comes outfitted with an expansive white Corian counter for guests to saddle up onto, presenting a large data-viz screen wall for orders. In its retail version, the  Makr Shakr Toni purports to reveal a future where traditional human bartenders are replaced by a 2-armed robot capable of mixing 80 drinks per hour using a catalog of 158 bottles, complemented by two sugar dispensers, an ice machine, and even a mint dispenser at its disposal. Beer, wine, or mojitos are all within the robot mixologist machine’s cocktail tableau.

Photos: Krishanthi Photography

The latest iteration of Makr Shakr’s drink shaking robotic bar system has taken stage as a rooftop bar overlooking the Duomo. The View by Makr Shakr supposedly takes inspiration from the gestures of Italian dancer and choreographer Marco Pelle from the New York Theatre Ballet, utilizing two mechanical arms programmed to shake, stir, and muddle with smooth co-ordinated, dance-like movements of their human counterparts.

Photos: Marco Beck Peccoz

The View handles 8 less bottles than the Toni, but that’s still a total 150 bottles of different spirits hanging from the ceiling of the bar structure for the system to choose from. The entire system coordinates with a mobile app allowing customers to either select drinks from pre-made recipes developed by international bartenders or even create and name customized cocktails of their own. So order that Long Island Iced Tea, your robot bartender won’t judge you, even if your fellow partygoers might.

A future self-driving bar unit is in the works from Makr Shakr.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.