Showmanship/Entertainment. The whole point of being in Vegas or on a cruise ship (prior installation), is to have a spectacular experience. An efficient, mundane, McD's dispenser isn't quite the same.

> The whole point of being in Vegas or on a cruise ship (prior installation)

My best friend works on RCCL's Quantum (or rather, its one of the ships he's worked on recently), and one of his responsibilities is maintenance of the robotic arms that perform the drink making experience [1]. He's says they're constantly down or in need of major repair while operating.

Will robotics get there? For sure. Are they there yet? Not in a cost effective manner. Still cheaper to have someone making tips behind the bar (unless, as you said, its purely showmanship).

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBF7EE2xnN4

Any idea what it costs?

I don't unfortunately, I'm just told they're constantly down for maintenance. A typical new robotic arm is ~$80k-$150k (varies widely based on implements, programming, etc); unsure of the exact model RCCL uses, but even at the low end the install cost ~$200k considering equipment costs + tech labor on board.

That's a drink machine, not a step toward a humanoid, which is what people find interesting.

How do you get around cross contamination?

I don't want sugary crap in my $100 bottle of whiskey on the rocks.

I guess you could use water to flush part of the tube system.

But I'd have to trust it.

For all alcohol (And food) a big part of the reason you buy it is anchored impressions. It's never 100% about the taste. How it's served is important.

Contamination is a big issue. Lowly McDonalds changed to a 'flavor robot' shake machine, where the ice cream(sic) is always vanilla and they deliver other flavors (chocolate, strawberry, mint etc) through tubes for each dispense.

I like vanilla, but can't get it any more. I get a mixture of vanilla and whatever-the-last-guy-got. Because, tubes leak/drip/have to void of the previous flavor.