It was six years ago that we first heard about Makr Shakr, a robotic bar that can reportedly mix one Googol (the digit 1 followed by 100 zeroes) drink combinations. Now, its designers are planning on installing the tech in an autonomous vehicle that users can hail whenever they want a bevvy.
Created by Italian design firm Carlo Ratti Associati (in partnership with MIT, Coca-Cola and Bacardi Rum), the current version of Makr Shakr features two single-armed robots. Responding to customer orders placed via an app, those arms proceed to shake, stir, muddle, strain and pour more than 60 different ingredients – their bartending is said to be informed by the “best bartenders in the world” and their movements by the “best dancer in the world.”
In the just-announced Guido concept, the Makr Shakr system will be put in an open-sided self-driving vehicle, which users will be able to call to their location using an app. Once the “barmobile” arrives, that same app can be used to order a beverage from it. Customers’ ages will be checked via a scan of their ID, and they’ll be able to pay using their smartphones.
“Guido is the application of a city-on-demand paradigm,” says Emanuele Rossetti, CEO of the spin-off Makr Shakr company. “By matching Makr Shakr’s robotic bartenders with the mobility systems of the future researched by CRA [Carlo Ratti Associati], we can put forward a new idea for the experience of leisure.”
Plans call for the system to be developed throughout this year, in collaboration with international municipalities. And Guido, incidentally, is Italian for “I drive.”
Robotic bar could soon be hailed like a drink-making cab [New Atlas]