ShekouDaily | October 17, 2019
On Thursday, October 17th, a new ice cream cart was quietly installed and quickly activated in Zone C of Sea World Square, in Shekou, Shenzhen.
Located at the bow end of the Minghua Cruise ship, “Mr. Doer’s Home Station,” is a fully automated, robot ice cream and juice vendor.
The very chatty robot, strategically placed in front of the children’s play area, demanded the attention of those passing by, and appears to be able to sense when you walk by or are just standing there staring at him.
While there taking some pictures and videos, the robot blared out that he felt awkward just standing there and asked that someone buy something. Watch the video below as we gave into his request.
Mr. Doer’s Home Station at this location currently only sells ice cream, milk, tea, and juice. TIP: Don’t forget to grab your spoon before letting go of the door. It pulls shut automatically as soon as you do and locks once closed.
The cart is developed by Zi Xun Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Limited; which has been developing robots since 2006 and expanded to consumer applications in 2015. According to an article published in their WeChat account, they first demonstrated this in Shenzhen at an exhibition in August. This cart in Sea World is the first in regular retail operation in Shenzhen. According to a source at the company, a second cart will be opening at Window of the World on Thursday October 31st.
In a somewhat spooky coincidence, Mr. Doer’s Home Station robot ice cream vendor appeared on the same day that PayYouTech, a firm developing technology to help us humans earn a living in a world beyond robots taking our jobs, opened its office right next door and published an ad seeking an office adminstrator.