From the receptionist that does the check-in and check-out to the porter that is an automated trolley taking luggage to the room, a hotel in south west Japan called Weird Hotel is “manned” nearly totally by robots to save on labour costs. Yes, this dinosaur is the receptionist, or at least one of two robot concierges at the hi-tech hotel. “If you want to check in, push one”, the dinosaur says.
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The visitor has to punch a button on the desk, and type in information on a touch panel screen.
Henn na Hotel, as it is called in Japanese, was shown to reporters on Wednesday, complete with robot demonstrations, before it opened on Friday. The face authentication system will register guests through image recognition and let them into their rooms, thereby “liberating you from the hassle of carrying keys and the anxiety of losing it”.
Sitting on a night table between the twin beds of every room is Churi-chan, a cartoonish communication robot with a pink head that resembles a tulip (in keeping with the Dutch theme).
Why a simple coin locker won’t do is not the point. Can the robots make ice machine runs for me too?
Just last week, Haneda Airport near Tokyo announced it will become a testing ground this fall for a fleet of robots and an arsenal of powered exoskeletons to assist human staff and customers. Charges at the Henn na Hotel start at 9,000 yen or roughly $80, substantially lower than nicer options. Security cameras dot the property, according to the AP, and real people are watching everything through a monitor to make sure guests are safe and no one tries to steal a robot. He is also eager to add other languages, such as Chinese and Korean, to the robots’ vocabulary. The bot can retrieve information from the Internet, such as the weather forecast, and tell the time, turn the lights on or off and wake guests up, all using its high-pitched “kawaii” (cute) voice.
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For now, the hotel will open at half capacity for the first few weeks, to ensure nothing goes haywire.
