WHAT IT IS?
Robots in the hospitality industry? Now, at the rapid pace at which technology is changing, this is becoming a reality. Hotels across the globe have started experimenting with using robots. Introducing ‘Rob’ the bartender and ‘Lovot’ the puppet, who service you a leisure locations.
‘Rob’ the humanoid bartender works on an MSC cruise ship. He interacts with guests, serves personalized cocktails, and gives you a souvenir glass to take anywhere with you. (A smart way to advertise!) ‘Lovot’ is artificial intelligence in the form of a puppet, complete with a wardrobe of clothes for every occasion. It is capable of creating an emotional bond with the guest. Company ‘Groove X’ created Lovot with a specific technology called Emotional Robotics. It is programmed to scan the feelings of the people around and respond with manifestations of joy or comfort. Lovot can be found at the Hotel New Otani, with its ancient garden in the Ginza district, Tokyo, Japan.
WHY IT´S COOL?
Both Rob and Lovot have the potential to improve the guest experience. At the same time they can save human employees time. For instance, Lovot allows guests to have a fast check-in experience with limited contact with others as they desire. Instead of giving a tip, these both Rob and Lovot are content with a tweet or a social media post.
WHY IT HAS FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL?
Robots undoubtedly improve efficiency, save expenses and thereby increase revenues for hotels et cetera. They also can be very useful in pandemic situations to maintain social distance. And they can create some social media advertising by inviting guests to take a picture of them or offering them gadgets as souvenirs. Robots radiate emotional intelligence when they ensure that a guest’s personal needs are taken care of. They will increasingly be able to enhance the guest’s experience. Right now though, they are not able to replace the human touch. For a great experience robots still need the guiding hands of humans. There are lots of human tasks that robots cannot mimic. Right now, the real purpose of robo-tech is to free up staff for ‘mechanic’ duties, saving staff’s time and hotel’s money.
As said, right now robots themselves can show emotional intelligence only to a certain degree. The more they learn to cater to each personalized guest’s wishes, the more emotionally intelligent they will function. Right now, most robots relieve staff from their functional tasks, this way empowering staff to improve their emotional intelligent approach towards guests.
For further information about Lovot and Rob please visit:
https://www.newotani.co.jp/tokyo/stay/plan/lovot/
Video of Rob the humanoid bartender:
Video of Lovot the puppet:
3 Comments
I think the concept of AI, using EQ to train these robots to have emotions is just the beginning of something that definitely has growth potential! I don’t think Rob and Lovot are the kind of robots I want to buy, more like toys (not so cool for me) The tech has to advance more for me to potentially buy one that can useful to me.
Technology is on the rise! not only are they adorable but they’re also very helpful. Emotional intelligence is key especially in the hospitality industry and as said in the blog: ” The more they learn to cater to each personalized guest’s wishes, the more emotionally intelligent they will function.” this is very important. I can see a growth in this project.
I have mixed feelings about these robots, maybe the Lovot ones I think it’s a bit weird. Yet it is a good initiative to lower the interaction between people since some prefer not to interact with others so I guess it depends on the person.