Customer Service Robots Debut in Malls, Airports скачать в хорошем качестве

Customer Service Robots Debut in Malls, Airports

(29 Dec 2016) Meet Pepper -- a friendly humanoid robot that could be coming to a shopping center near you. Pepper looks like another expensive toy in the San Francisco mall where it delights crowds as it dances, plays games, poses for selfies and chats in a child-like voice. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the 4-foot-tall android as mere child's play. Imported by Japan, Pepper is part of an ambitious push to put personable robots in malls, airports and other businesses around the world. Tokyo-based SoftBank Robotics is placing Pepper robots in Westfield Corp.'s malls in San Francisco and Santa Clara, California for a three-month test run to learn how it can engage shoppers in its first extended appearance in the U.S. If all goes well, Westfield plans to spice up its New York mall at the World Trade Center and Garden State mall in Paramus, New Jersey, with Pepper too. Pepper is already being used in grocery stores, coffee shops, cruise ships and homes across Japan and Europe. If the technology advances as Softbank Robotics hopes, Pepper could become a playmate, companion and concierge that responds to voice commands to retrieve vital information, make reservations and control home appliances. Customer-service robots could also be coming to your local airport. Mineta San Jose International Airport recently introduced three robots to entertain and guide travelers arriving in and departing from Silicon Valley. The robots - named Amelia, Norma, and Piper - are believed to be the first robots deployed at a U.S. airport. Similar machines are already working in airports in Japan, Canada and Europe. Designed by South Korea's Future Robots, the airport bots can dance, play music, take photos and provide information about shopping, dinning and restrooms on a large touchscreen - in six languages. It's topped with a head-shaped screen showing a young woman's face. Home-improvement retailer Lowe's recently introduced "Lowe-Bot" at its San Jose store and plans to roll them out at 10 other stores in the San Francisco Bay area in early 2017. The NAVii retail robot, designed by Mountain View, Calif.-based Fellow Robots, can help shoppers find merchandise in its sprawling stores. It was first introduced at Lowe's OSH hardware stores two years ago as "OSHBot." Lowe's machine has a detailed database of the store's inventory, enabling it to quickly determine if something is in stock and then guide shoppers to the aisle where the requested item is located. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...