---
title: "People With Paralysis Control the Robot Waiters at This Cafe"
description: "A pop-up cafe in Tokyo, Japan, employs people with paralysis who control four-foot-tall robot waiters remotely from their homes."
date: "2018-12-06"
modified: "2018-12-06"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/robot-waiters-paralysis"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "employment"
  - "paralysis"
  - "robot waiters"
---

# People With Paralysis Control the Robot Waiters at This Cafe

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/robot-waiters-paralysis.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Ory Robotics\</em\>*

## Waiting Game

People with paralysis are finding their way back into the workforce — thanks to a four-foot-tall robot.

On November 26, a [pop-up cafe](<https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/japanese-robot-cafe-dawn/>) unlike any other opened in Tokyo, Japan. Instead of employing human waiters, or even [autonomous robot waiters](<https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-restaurant-robot-waiters-2016-7#these-ten-robot-waiters-serve-customers-in-chengdu-china-carrying-dishes-around-and-giving-simple-greetings-to-customers-1>), this cafe features robot waiters controlled remotely by people with paralysis — a mind-bending experiment about the future of work, disability, and technology.

## Dawn of a New Era

The cafe, Dawn ver.β, is a joint venture between All Nippon Airways, the Nippon Foundation, and Ory, a Japanese robotics startup. Ory created the robots used at Dawn, which a person can instruct to move, speak, or carry objects simply by moving their eyes in certain ways.

Ten paralyzed individuals each earn the equivalent of $8.80 per hour to work at Dawn through their robot avatars. Several companies contributed the funds for the project, with crowdsourcing helping to raise the rest.

## Back to Work

Dawn will close on Friday, but the people behind the [robot restaurant](<https://futurism.com/the-evolution-of-automation-meet-the-restaurant-run-by-robots>) are hopeful that a permanent version of it could open in 2020, [according to](<https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/japanese-robot-cafe-dawn/>) *Digital Trends*.

Even if it doesn't, though, the project serves as a captivating case study about the ways robots could create jobs for people who might otherwise not be physically able to participate in the workforce — a particularly welcome change from all the warnings about a future plagued by [robot-caused job losses](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/automation-robot-steal-jobs-states>).

**READ MORE:** [The Robot Waiters in This Japanese Cafe Are Controlled by People With Paralysis](<https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/japanese-robot-cafe-dawn/>) \[*Digital Trends*\]

***More on robotic restaurants: [The Evolution of Automation: Meet the Restaurant Run by Robots](<https://futurism.com/the-evolution-of-automation-meet-the-restaurant-run-by-robots>)***

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)