Robots are in charge at Japan’s wackiest hotel

By Elizabeth Pierson from Mashable

Japan’s Henn-na Hotel — which translates roughly to the ‘Strange Hotel’ in English — has some pretty unusual employees.

The hotel in Sasebo, Japan, opens on July 17, and will be manned almost entirely by robots. What started as an effort to cut down on labor costs has turned into something of a publicity stunt to create the world’s wackiest hotel.

But 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.

Upon check-in, guests will be greeted by multi-lingual humanoid and dinosaur receptionists. Other robots in the lobby greet visitors, serve coffee and act as concierge. Robots bring the guests’ luggage to their rooms, which, by the way, are opened by face-recognition technology.

Guests check in via a completely automated system including a humanoid robot.
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 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.

Robotic porters guide guests and carry their luggage to their rooms at the Strange Hotel.
A robotic cloak system handles baggage at the Strange Hotel.
A small robot in each room controls lighting and other features by voice command.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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