SEOUL: Tens of thousands of baristas have lost their jobs as a result of lockdowns during the coronavirus – and in South Korea many may be out of work permanently if a new trend takes hold.

 A cafe in Daejeon is trying out robot baristas.

 Lee Dong-bae, director at Vision Semicon, says robots could help people observe social distancing in public.

 Vision Semicon is a smart-factory solution provider which developed the barista robot, together with a state-run science institute.

Lee said the system needs no input from people from order to delivery, and tables are sparsely arranged to ensure smooth movements of the robots.