Hitachi's 'EMIEW' customer service robot is suited to carrying out a range of tasks and among them is attending to visitors who are passing through the Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan.
At the airport, EMIEW works in tandem with a digital tourist information center screen, which can be used to pul up maps of the airport in order to help travelers easily navigate the building. In a demonstration, Hitachi set up a scenario where a tourist specified that she was unfamiliar with the airport and would like to locate the nearby gift shops. The bot then goest on to ask: "What kind of gift are you looking for?" and refines its search for Japanese-specific gift shops.
Assistive Airport Robots
Hitachi's 'EMIEW' Robot Helps Travelers at Haneda International Airport
Trend Themes
1. Customer Service Robots - Customer service robots like EMIEW can be integrated with digital information centers to provide personalized assistance to visitors.
2. Airport Robotics - The use of robotics in airports can optimize navigation and streamline the visitor experience.
3. Artificial Intelligence Assistance - The integration of artificial intelligence can enhance the capabilities of robots like EMIEW, enabling them to provide increasingly tailored assistance.
Industry Implications
1. Travel and Tourism - The use of EMIEW can enhance the tourism experience by providing personalized assistance and recommendations to visitors passing through airports.
2. Robotics - The development of customer service robots like EMIEW represents a growing area of investment and potential disruptive innovation within the larger robotics industry.
3. Artificial Intelligence - The integration of AI technologies into robotics has the potential to revolutionize the capabilities and applications of such technologies, generating new opportunities for innovation.