Have you heard about the new robot
culture in cafes?
How do you feel about it?
There is a new robot barista at a cafe in Daejeon. It is courteous and swift. It
moves seamlessly between customers.
"Here is your Rooibos almonds tea latte,
please enjoy. It's even better if you stir it," it says.
South Korea had more than 11,000 people get
coronavirus and it killed 267. Now South Korea is slowly transitioning
from intensive social distancing rules towards daily distancing rules.
Robots can help people social distance in
public said Lee Dong-bae. He is a director of research at Vision Semicon.
Vision Semicon is a smart factory solution provider. They developed the barista
robot.
"Our robot needs no input from
people from when a customer orders until
it delivers. Tables in the cafe were sparsely
arranged for smooth movements of the robots." he said.
The coffee-making and serving robot, can make
60 different types of coffee. And it serves the drinks to customers at their
tables. It can also communicate and transmit data to other devices. And it contains
self-driving technology to decide the best ways around the cafe.
"Robots are fun and it was easy because
you don't have to pick up your order," said student Lee Chae-mi, 23.
"But I'm also a bit worried about the job market. Many of my friends are
doing part-time jobs at cafes and these robots would replace humans."
Try to guess the meaning of the words in
bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right.
Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of
these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have
different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.
The answers are below the table.
courteous
|
A
|
1
|
quick, fast, to move quickly
|
swift
|
B
|
2
|
Polite, good manners
|
seamlessly
|
C
|
3
|
Very strong, focused, extreme
|
transitioning
|
D
|
4
|
Very few, not many,
|
intensive
|
E
|
5
|
To send something/ a message/information from one place to another
|
input
|
F
|
6
|
To invest, to put information or ideas into something, to contribute
|
sparsely
|
G
|
7
|
Going from one thing or way of doing something to a another
|
transmit
|
H
|
8
|
To go or move from one thing to the next without a noticeable
change, smooth change from one thing to another
|
A=2, B=1, C=8, D=7, E=3, F=6, G=4, H=5
Some example sentences using the new
words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help
you understand better.
On the
bus or train we must be courteous and let older people sit down.
I love
the KTX high speed train. It is very swift.
Moving
classes to online was seamless.
Next
month, we will transition to normal life again.
Some
students are going to intensive English camps for the winter.
I want
the staff to input their ideas.
Northern
Canada is sparse. There are very few people.
Stay
home if you see. I don’t want you to transmit your sickness to other
people.
Some questions using the new
words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.
How do
you show courtesy to older people in your culture?
How
important is swiftness in a cafe or restaurant? Give an example.
Explain
what you think it means for a robot
would move seamlessly between customers.
When do
you think all restaurants and cafes will transition to robot servers?
How do you feel about this transition. Do you think it will be seamless
or will there be trouble?
How
have the intensive social distancing rules affected your life?
What
does it mean that the robot needs no input from people when it takes
orders?
In
cafes people sit sparsely. But what about on public transport and other
places? What is your opinion?
What
data would the robot be transmitting to other devices? How would this
make your cafe experience better?