Japan opened a hotel near an amusement park this week that showcases 10 robots performing different types of work. The Hen-na Hotel, meaning “weird hotel” in English, offers many surprising features at a bargain price.
The robot employees are not a fleet of identical robots. Instead, they each have their own look and function. Perhaps the front desk receptionists will attract the most buzz — an odd-couple of a “female” android and a talking dinosaur.
Kokoro, the robots’ manufacturer, calls them “actroids,” which were first developed at Osaka university more than a decade ago. Making a face at these robots may cause them to respond. These robots are able to make eye contact and understand body language. This can make visitors have an unsettled or creepy feeling.
According to Endgadget, these receptionists are able to answer simple questions, are multilingual and over time, their software will be upgraded to improve their vocabulary.
Other staff include a Nao bot acting as concierge, a luggage-carrying porter and a doll-sized robot perched in the room to give the time and weather.
Hideo Sawada runs the hotel for visitors of the Huis Ten Bosch amusement park, which recreates the Netherlands. The park opened in 1992 and features life-sized replicas of Dutch buildings.
Sawada told The Guardian that using robots is not a gimmick but a serious effort to use technology and achieve efficiency. “I wanted to highlight innovation,” Sawada said. “I also wanted to do something about hotel prices going up.”
A stay at the Henn-na Hotel starts at 9,000 yen ($80), which is a bargain for Japan, where other hotels cost twice or three times as much.
