Source: Kottke
OrySnack uses telepresence robots to let remote workers serve drinks in a premium Tokyo venue, collapsing geography while preserving the human interaction customers expect. The workers—likely from lower-cost regions or with mobility constraints—are physically 500 miles away, which reframes whether "local employment" remains meaningful. This is outsourcing the performance of service work, not automation replacing workers. The model faces immediate pressure: customers paying Tokyo prices for drinks won't tolerate lag time or impersonal robotic service, and the economics only work if remote labor costs dramatically undercut local wages—a calculus that will draw regulatory and public pushback wherever it spreads.