Robots are getting around. The same kind of robot that Hilton Worldwide has been testing as a concierge in one of its hotels also recently helped passengers navigate the Japan Airlines terminal at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
NAO, a 58cm-tall humanoid robot created by SoftBank Robotics (formerly known as Aldebaran), worked the JAL information counter during a test trial in February at security checkpoint C of Terminal 1.
With the help of an adjacent digital information screen, NAO could answer passenger questions - in Japanese, English, and Chinese - about the airport facilities, important flight information, and even weather forecasts.
NAO was also tested on its ability to work well with JAL’s human agents who communicated with the robot via a smart watch. Not only could staffers send information to NAO but the robot could send back information to the agent’s smart watches.
This March, Hilton unveiled a NAO robot, nicknamed “Connie”, for their founder Conrad Hilton, at the Hilton McLean in Virginia. Connie is powered by IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform as well as WayBlazer to offer personalized suggestions for inquiring guests.
Japan Airlines opted to partner with Nomura Research Institute, a Japanese IT consulting firm, to manage NAO’s information system.
Several other airlines have been testing the use of robots—such as KLM with the roving bot Spencer who helps passengers catch connecting flights at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport. (As of this spring, the test was successful.)
JetBlue who unveiled Crewbot at their JFK terminal last year.
Last summer, Henn-na, a hotel in Nagasaki Japan, opened with 10 humanoid robots.
Earlier this year, Savioke, the developer of the Relay hotel robot currently rolling around the corridors of properties across the US, received $15 million in Series A funding led by Intel Capital.
Meanwhile, a few Aloft Hotels in Silicon Valley have robo-butlers.
While it may be some time before robots handle check-ins at airports or hotels without the assistance of humans, robots are a technology to be reckoned with, according to PWC’s recent Global CEO survey.
Earlier: Robots in hotels will work with humans, not replace them
A spring 2016 survey of 6,000 travelers about robots
