Rise of the machines – Japan.
Nagasaki, silence descends in the night.
Humans are smarter than robots. While some robots might be better and quite intelligent they are still not so dominant, the simple reason is that our species has the pole position on earth.
My first robot hotel experience I had in Japan.
Not even the most optimistic of men could imagine the success of a “weird” hotel like this.
We checked in at “Henn na”. A female robot at reception, a riding bell boy machine for room service.
The robots bring your luggage to your room. A hotel with robot staff and even face recognition. Where else than Japan.
Strange.
The receptionist, a dino robot and a woman next to him speaking Japanese.
“Konnichi-wa” said the female humanoid with blinking lashes.
Special, even for global travellers.
Check in was by pushing a button on the desk and type in information on a touch panel screen.
The Henn na Hotel is located near the Huis Ten Bosch amusement park in Sasebo, near Nagasaki in southwestern Japan.
A trolley taking our luggage to the room.
Hideo Sawada (GM) takes serious effort to use technology and achieve efficiency, the aim is to run a hotel by robots to save labour costs.
They are using facial recognition technology -instead of the standard electronic keys-, a digital image of the guest’s face is registered during check-in.
Why? Robots aren’t good at finding keys if people lose them.
A giant robotic arm, usually seen in manufacturing, sits in glass quarters in the lobby. It lifts one of the boxes stacked into the wall and puts it 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”.
The concierge is a hairless robot with voice recognition that prattles breakfast and event information. 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 in manufacturing but interest is also high in exploring the potential of robots in human interaction.
The only human thing is security, real people watch everything through a monitor to ensure guests are safe and no one makes off with an expensive robot.
Outside, Sawada demonstrated a drone that flew in to deliver snacks.
In the rooms, a lamp-size robot in the shape of a fat pink tulip called Tuly answers simple questions such as, “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.
The human GM is taking care of the security to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Staying at “Henn na” Hotel starts at 60 €, probably a place for younger travellers and a bargain for Japanese people.
We enjoyed it.
The only problem: Unfortunately the robots still can’t make beds.
Haha, we will come back.
Photo: Henn Na Hotel.
