These adorable robots might be serving you your next coffee

Rolling through the corridors of Hong Kong’s Cyberport innovation hub, the little Rice Robot is on a mission to serve.

With a sturdy white cuboid design that evokes Star Wars’ R2D2, but with the wide-eyed charm of Pixar’s WALL-E, the Rice Robot delivers drinks to customers at the HFT Life cafe, where a PIN code sent to their phone unlocks its “head” compartment for easy access to the drinks.

While Rice’s duties at the cafe are focused on drink delivery, the versatile robot already serves a variety of roles in venues across Hong Kong and Japan. At Hong Kong’s Dorsett Wanchai hotel, it acts as a bellhop, bringing room service to guests. In Tokyo, Rice delivers snacks to SoftBank Group employees from the building’s 7-11 convenience store. Earlier this year, it even appeared on Cantonese TV drama Communion, delivering coffee to an actor.

Rice is part of a new wave of intelligent robots, capable of navigating complex and crowded spaces, including elevators. Fitted with light sensors, depth cameras, and ultrasound sensors to avoid obstacles, Rice can effortlessly move through multi-story hotels and shopping malls, says Viktor Lee, founder and CEO of Rice Robotics.

Describing Rice as 'your friendly neighborhood robot,' Lee envisions it as a solution to help the hospitality industry address labor shortages caused by an aging population, while also meeting the increased demand for hygiene in the post-pandemic world.

“Even after the pandemic, people remain very cautious about contact,” says Lee. He predicts that “robots like these will experience steady growth over the next five to ten years.”

The rise of robots during the pandemic

With a background in logistics, Lee founded Rice Robotics in 2019 to address the challenge of 'last-mile delivery.'

Backed by the Cyberport Incubation Programme, Lee and his team developed Rice, the first of their three robots. Designed for product delivery, it’s versatile enough for use in healthcare, retail, logistics, and hospitality sectors.

The pandemic created new opportunities for service robots, with the market expanding by 12% in 2020, according to the International Federation of Robotics. This shift opened a new role for Rice: as a quarantine hotel butler. In Hong Kong, stringent travel regulations required inbound visitors to quarantine for up to three weeks, prompting hotels to seek innovative ways to minimize human interaction and prevent cross-contamination.

The Dorsett Wanchai hotel began deploying Rice robots in June 2021. 'It’s an excellent way to serve our guests while maintaining high service standards and complying with social distancing and anti-pandemic measures,' says general manager Anita Chan. She adds that the feedback from guests has been overwhelmingly positive: 'With its adorable design, Rice Robot is especially adored by children.'

Lee notes that during the pandemic, clients began requesting cleaning robots. In response, his team rapidly developed a second robot, named Jasmine, in just eight weeks. Jasmine replaces Rice’s delivery compartment with a tank of disinfectant solution, featuring two spray nozzles on her head to distribute the sanitizing liquid.

Lee gave Jasmine a new personality—complete with cartoonish furrowed eyebrows to convey her serious mission. 'She’s on a mission to sanitize the entire area, and she doesn’t want anyone standing in her way,' Lee explains. Jasmine has already been deployed in shopping malls, conference centers, and airports.

The team’s third creation, Portal, is a taller robot equipped with a touch screen, two-way intercom, and streaming cameras for patrolling public spaces. Beyond making deliveries, Portal can also guide visitors in locations like malls, conference halls, and hospitals.

Robots in hospitality

While industrial robots have long been a staple in automotive, manufacturing, and electronics, until recently, most robots used in hospitality were more for show than function.

However, the pandemic has shifted this, according to Kaye Chon, dean of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Chon explains that in response to travel and social restrictions, the hospitality industry saw a significant loss of staff. Combined with growing hygiene concerns and the rising acceptance of smart technology by younger customers, he believes robotics is a key part of the hospitality industry's 'digital transformation.'

Staff members now also need to be trained in robot programming—a skill that's currently in short supply. To address this gap, Chon helped design a new 'smart tourism' curriculum focused on AI, robotics, and big data. However, he notes that it will take time before these students enter the workforce. 'This is the future of our industry,' he says.

While robots help reduce physical contact, they still require staff to sanitize them between uses, according to Chon.

Chon believes there's significant potential for robots to handle simple, repetitive tasks in budget and mid-range hotels, but the technology is far from replicating the personalized service that luxury hotels are known for, he adds.

The rise of service robots

Rice Robotics isn't the only company in the service robot market. Danish firm UVD Robots supplies robotic butlers to the Yotel in Boston, while Relay Robotics (formerly Savioke) has been producing delivery bots for hotels since 2013. Richtech Robotics' Matradee robot helps waitstaff by acting as an autonomous serving tray.

Rice’s charming facial design plays a big role in its popularity—this is no accident, according to Lee. Research has shown that robots with human-like features foster a stronger emotional connection, which makes Rice’s friendly look a critical factor in its success within the hospitality industry, where brands aim to leave a positive impression on customers.

Rice Robotics has seen rapid growth since the pandemic began, expanding from just three employees in 2019 to a team of 26. Now headquartered at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, the company opened a new office in Japan in 2021 to manage its expanding client base. With Japan’s aging population, Lee emphasizes that robots are vital for supporting the country’s retail and hospitality sectors.

Beyond hospitality, Lee envisions robots becoming increasingly common in residential settings. In a recent collaboration with Japan’s postal service, multiple Rice robots were deployed in a high-rise building to assist with parcel and mail deliveries to residents' doorsteps.

“Robots aren’t replacing human jobs, but instead helping society stay on track,” says Lee, emphasizing that “robots are the future.”