Robot bartender identifies best way to get served

A new study using a robotic bartender has revealed the optimal way customers can place an order at a busy bar through their body language.

Behavioural scientists have found that the customers are most likely to get served at a busy bar if they directly face bartenders without making any gestures

A team of behavioural scientists from Bielefeld, Germany, identified key ways consumers can increase their chances of beating their competition for the attention of bartenders.

“In the bar scenario, one of the most difficult challenges is to distinguish between customers who are intending to place an order and those who are not,” said researchers.

“This is complicated by the fact that bars are often dimly-lit and noisy environments with multiple customers.”

Professors Sebastian Loth, Kerstin Huith and Jan P. De Ruiter found that the body language most likely to lead to success was to stand squarely and face the bartender, contradicting the widely held belief that gesturing directly to the bartender or displaying your wallet will prove successful.

Out of 150 observed patrons, only one in 15 looked at their wallets to signal they would like to place an order and fewer than one in 25 customers gestured to the bartender.

Those who attempted to squeeze in the middle of two other customers were usually ignored, while customers who were busy talking to friends and looking at the menu are also found to be less successful at getting served.

Meanwhile, more than 90% of the customers demonstrated the successful tactic of placing themselves directly at the bar counter and turning towards a member of staff.

A robotic bartender, called James, was used to help collate these findings. Once programmed with the results, James could then ask customers if they would like a drink when he recognised the correct body language.

The robot’s head was a tablet computer showing large eyes that can establish eye contact with customers, while its mouth could move in sync with speech.

With a one-armed metal torso, James could accept orders and serve customers using its arm and a four fingered hand.

The study is part of the EU project James (Joint Action in Multimodal Embodied Systems) and was conducted in pubs and clubs in Bielfeld (Germany), Herford (Germany) and Edinburgh (UK).

Findings were published in the research journal Frontiers in Psychology.