Robot waiters at Tokyo cafe operated remotely by disabled people

A cafe in Tokyo has recruited robots to serve customers. But rather than taking over human jobs, these robot waiters are making the workplace more inclusive.

Instead of being powered by artificial intelligence, the bots are operated by disabled people who are sometimes thousands of kilometres away.

Each OriHime-D robot is equipped with cameras, a microphone and speakers, allowing the operator to communicate with cafe patrons remotely.

“I feel happy if I can be a part of society," said Michio Imai, an employee at Dawn cafe who suffers from a somatic symptom disorder.