SASEBO, Japan (AP) — From the receptionist that does the check-in and
check-out to the porter that's an automated trolley taking luggage up to the
room, this hotel in southwestern Japan, aptly called Weird Hotel, is
"manned" almost totally by robots to save labor costs.
Hideo Sawada, who runs the hotel as part of an amusement park,
insists using robots is not a gimmick, but a serious effort to utilize
technology and achieve efficiency.
The receptionist robot that speaks in English is a vicious-looking
dinosaur, and the one that speaks Japanese is a female humanoid with blinking
lashes. "If you want to check in, push one," the dinosaur says. The
visitor still 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
Wednesday, complete with robot demonstrations, ahead of its opening to the
public Friday.
Another feature of the hotel is the use of facial recognition
technology, instead of the standard electronic keys, by registering the
digital image of the guest's face during check-in.
The reason? Robots aren't good at finding keys, if people happen to
lose them.
A giant robotic arm, usually seen in manufacturing, is encased in
glass quarters in the corner of the lobby. It lifts one of the boxes stacked
into the wall and puts it out through a space in the glass, where a guest can
place an item in it, to use as a locker.
The arm will put the box back into the wall, until the guest wants it
again. The system is called "robot cloak room."
Why a simple coin locker won't do isn't the point.
"I wanted to highlight innovation," Sawada told reporters.
"I also wanted to do something about hotel prices going up."
Staying at Henn na Hotel starts at 9,000 yen ($80), a bargain for
Japan, where a stay in one of the nicer hotels can easily cost twice or three
times that much.
The concierge is a doll-like hairless robot with voice recognition
that prattles breakfast and event information. It cannot call a cab or do
other errands.
Japan is a world leader in robotics technology, and the government is
trumpeting robotics as a pillar of its growth strategy. Robots have long been
used here in manufacturing. But interest is also high in exploring the
potential of robots in human interaction, including helping care for the
elderly.
Robotics is also key in the decommissioning of the three reactors in
Fukushima, northern Japan, which went into meltdowns in 2011, in the worst
nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl.
One area Henn na Hotel still relies on human beings is security.
The place is dotted with security cameras, and real people are
watching everything through a monitor to make sure guests stay safe and no
one makes off with one of the expensive robots.
"And they still can't make beds," said Sawada, who has also
engineered the rise of a popular affordable Japanese travel agency.
He has big ambitions for his robot hotel concept and wants to open
another one soon in Japan, and later abroad. He is also eager to add other
languages, such as Chinese and Korean, to the robots' vocabulary.
A block-shaped robot that was scuttling around in the lobby had been
brought in to do room service, delivering beverages and simple snacks. But it
wasn't ready to do that yet.
Outdoors, Sawada also demonstrated a drone that flew in to deliver a
few small jars filled with snacks. He said he wanted to eventually have
drones perform in shows for guests.
In the hotel's rooms, a lamp-size robot in the shape of a fat pink
tulip called Tuly answers simple questions like, "What time is it?"
and "What is the weather tomorrow?"
You can also tell it to turn the room lights on or off. There are no
switches on the walls.
Sawada is keeping the hotel half-filled for the first few weeks to
make sure nothing goes wrong.
Photographs: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP
Edited from The Guardian and USA Today
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7/19/2015
Robot Hotel
