If you’re like me, you long for the day when your robot attendant hands over a negroni, mixed the way you like it, to your drone, which then lets the drink fly gently through the garden (observing all codes of conduct) and into your hand while sitting in your hot tub.
We may not be there yet, but this beautiful little thing is getting pretty close – and it just went on display at CES 2024.
Ottonomy is not a startup. It was founded in late 2020 by Ritukar Vijay, Pradyot Korupolu, Ashish Gupta and Hardik Sharma, and is headquartered in New York. During the pandemic, Indian e-commerce player Snapdeal used Ottonomy’s Ottobots for last-mile delivery, but in 2022 the company raised $3.3 million in seed funding to expand its offering. And this is the kind of expansion I’m here for.
Ottonomy is actually introducing two delivery robots at CES: the Ottobot Locker (an L4 autonomous robot and safe built for localized shipping; essentially moving items from one place to another in partnership with Harbor Lockers) and the drink dispensing – and thus more interesting – cooler improved Ottobot Brew.
You can see Ottonomy’s work in action below, where delivering lunch orders through New York malls (and sometimes streets) is fast becoming the norm.
Give me the beer boys and set my soul free…
The Ottobot Brew is billed as a mobile drinks service, replacing the grocery container (seen above) or locker with a cooler and CO2 tap system from beer cooling specialist Cooler Keg, which can also dispense a variety of carbonated drinks including “beer, cocktails , mocktails and even cold coffee”.
But you cannot yet order a cold copy on tap directly to your home. Instead of home delivery, the Ottobot Brew is intended for VIP events, specialty restaurants, hotels, casinos and other event or hospitality situations. So while Ottonomy doesn’t want to sell its beverage robots to the public just yet, in the future you might see an Ottobot Locker blasting past you delivering goods – or an Ottobot Brew in a progressive role.
For those who want an advanced piece of technology at CES that will make you feel like you’re living in the future as well as you shall can actually buy, see the amazing transparent LG OLED TV we spent some time with, officially called the LG Signature OLED T.
Would you prefer something very expensive and completely out of reach for most of us? View the Sonus Faber Suprema speakers. Okay, back to the hot tub…
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