{"id":4041,"date":"2026-11-08T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4041"},"modified":"2026-11-08T21:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T16:04:00","slug":"pakistans-robot-waitresses-serve-up-a-taste-of-future-in-karachi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4041","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s robot waitresses serve up a taste of future in Karachi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gliding between dining booths at a neon-lit restaurant in Pakistan\u2019s commercial hub, Karachi, a robot waitress delivers a freshly baked pizza to a waiting family, offering diners a glimpse of a future still rare in the South Asian country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Sicilian. My name is Robia,\u201d the machine says in an electronic voice, its red LED eyes blinking as it introduces itself to customers.<\/p>\n

Robia and her colleague Jojo are the creations of Pakistani engineer Syed Osama Aziz, who has brought a touch of science fiction to Karachi\u2019s restaurant industry with two locally developed humanoid robots.<\/p>\n

With spherical white heads, dark motorcycle helmet-style visors and black shawls resembling the traditional dupatta worn by women in the region, the robots are designed to stand out as much for their appearance as for their novelty.<\/p>\n

Aziz, who also founded the Sicilian restaurant, developed the machines through his robotics company, Cobot, using mostly locally manufactured components. He designed their circuit boards and programmed the robots in his own laboratory, with assistance from friends and some imported electronic parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe equipment, the things needed to make robots, are not so easily available here, so we had to arrange them,\u201d Aziz told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While robotic staff are becoming increasingly common in parts of East Asia, where machines deliver food, clean facilities and greet hotel guests, they remain an unusual sight in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

For now, Robia and Jojo perform relatively simple tasks, carrying orders to customers. Diners must remove food from their serving trays themselves or wait for a human employee to help.<\/p>\n

But Aziz has more ambitious plans for his creations.<\/p>\n

His workshop, where the robots are manufactured, is based in Multan in the central Punjab province. He hopes to equip future versions with camera-based and image-processing technology, allowing them to recognise returning customers and remember their previous orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means the robot will also recognise you by looking at you, and it will remember what you ordered last time, and accordingly it will be able to give you better suggestions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Curious crowds<\/h3>\n

The robots have already become a major attraction at the Karachi restaurant, drawing families eager to see the machines in action.<\/p>\n

Children reach out to touch the robots while parents take photographs and selfies. Some customers travel considerable distances across the sprawling port city to experience the unusual service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about it is that it introduces itself,\u201d customer Ahmer Zameer told AFP<\/em>, adding that the robot also explains which items are available on the menu.<\/p>\n

Young diner Sonia Dilosker said she was impressed by the robots\u2019 appearance and preferred their approach to serving customers because they were machines and operated \u201cwithout any emotions\u201d.<\/p>\n

For restaurant employees, the experiment has also brought a welcome commercial boost.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur business has grown. People are coming from far away for this. They have seen a robot for the first time here,\u201d said a staff member, Hellen.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are excited to see this.\u201d<\/p>\n

As countries race to develop increasingly sophisticated humanoid machines, Aziz\u2019s creations remain a modest, locally assembled experiment. But in Karachi, where robot waitresses are still a novelty, Robia and Jojo are already giving diners something to talk about beyond the food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gliding between dining booths at a neon-lit restaurant in Pakistan\u2019s commercial hub, Karachi, a robot waitress delivers a freshly baked pizza to a waiting family, offering diners a glimpse of a future still rare in the South Asian country. \u201cWelcome to Sicilian. My name is Robia,\u201d the machine says in an electronic voice, its red LED eyes blinking as it introduces itself to customers. Robia and her colleague Jojo are the creations of Pakistani engineer Syed Osama Aziz, who has brought a touch of science fiction to Karachi\u2019s restaurant industry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4041\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}