In China, the Galbot G1 shop robot serves tourists a bottle of water in under a minute

In Jingdezhen, a visitor tells the Galbot G1 robot he wants a bottle of water. The machine fetches it from the shelf, turns round and hands it over, all in under a minute.

According to the article, these shops run by the company Galbot, called “space capsules”, now operate in around fifty cities, at about 200 sites, and sell drinks, souvenirs and snacks day and night.

The show matters as much as the purchase. In front of the robot, a small boy refused to leave, and his mother summed up the scene: “Buying water is a pretext, he just wants to see the robot.”

The article's author remains cautious. In his view, the real test for these shops will be surviving the 300 days of the year that do not fall during the major holidays.