DAWN Avatar Robot Cafe

Have you ever walked into a business and your mouth just dropped? High-tech businesses with great concepts is the future and this innovative robot cafe is just that! DAWN Avatar Robot Cafe in Tokyo, Japan employs disabled people to be the faces behind the robots.

DAWN Avatar Robot Cafe is a permanent experimental cafe run by Ory Lab Inc., where people who are unable to go out for various reasons can remotely control the avatar robots “OriHime” and “OriHime-D” to provide services. We aim to use technology to realize new forms of social participation for people.

Know before you go

Before you go, if you want to have a meal here you must a reservation online. If you want to visit the bar, there is no reservation, but there is an admission fee of about $12.00 for customer service plus the cost of drinks. Be mindful though, that if it’s busy, you will be limited to 30 minutes at the bar. Everything is cashless. It is only a short 6 minute car drive (30 minute walk) from Imperial Palace Tokyo. Both of these, plus the Yasukuni Shrine are all doable on the same day.

First impression

The moment you walk in you are greeted by staff that are physically there and a robot.

The place is very clean, like any other place in Japan. It is very well lit and nicely decorated. You will see these robots gliding along these black lines that are operated by employees that are physically not able to be in the cafe.

Telebarista

They are currently experimenting a telebarista. The barista robot, controlled again by someone not there, will serve up your choice of coffee. The admission fee to use this still applies plus the cost of coffee, but be mindful that the telebarista is a prototype and may not always work.

Dinner

The OriHime dinner is what we went in for. This is the only thing you need to reserve, as stated above. The $30.00 price includes the admission fee, one dinner entree, and one drink. Personally, I think this is a better deal than paying the admission fee plus a bar drink. You cannot dine alone. There is a minimum of two people for a tabletop.

The entire experience is very unique! The robot at the table is also controlled by someone and they can actually see you. It’s not done blindly. The cafe has Japanese speakers and some English speakers, but this is not guaranteed. I’m sure you can still get by though with a translation app on your phone.

The iPad you see at the table with the robot will help guide you, but you must NOT touch the iPad. The robot will tell you and show you many, if not all, the entree items you can order from.

Once you place your drink and entree item, a robot guided with the black lines will come and deliver them to your table. Everything here is very organized and well developed!

Fun interactions

The tabletop robot is very social and loves to interact with you. Even though English might not be their first language, it’s still fun talking to the person behind the robot! They’re getting to know you just as much as you’re getting to know them. Very cool!

I wish I would have taken photos of what the rest of my family ordered, but I ordered a cheese pizza with broccoli and sausage. A small side salad & veggies came with it. It was very good!

Overall, we absolutely loved this idea and the entire experience was very unique & innovative! If this is your first time in Tokyo, you must do this! I wish the U.S. had similar establishments like this giving the disabled an opportunity to earn money from wherever they are. They are part of our community and have every right to work as they can see fit.

Is visiting the DAWN Avatar Robot Cafe a place you would visit?

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