Opinion: robots will set to become increasingly common in the worlds of travel, fast food, hospitality, entertainment and event management
Imagine you are checking in to your hotel for a well-deserved holiday. You are looking forward to a break away from the modern connected world, but are greeted by a robotic dinosaur at the reception desk. Welcome to the Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan, the world's first fully manned robotic hotel.
One of the most exciting yet disruptive forces in business today is the integration of robotics into the business models of companies operating in the services sector. A robot essentially is a machine that can look like a human being and is able to move independently and perform complex tasks.
They are serving to enhance how companies interact with their employees and customers in a variety of service contexts such as travel, fast food, hospitality, entertainment and event management. For example, Domino’s Pizza announced a collaboration last month with Nuro, a robotics delivery company, to test the use of its self-driving robots as a means of home delivery of pizzas from one of its outlets in Houston.
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A CNBC report on Domino's new self-driving pizza delivery service
Elsewhere, Royal Caribbean Cruises have deployed two robotic bartenders in their Bionic Bar, fittingly named Shaken and Stirred. At Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, a robot assistant called Spencer helps to ensure that airline passengers have a seamless travel experience. In preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, talking robots are being utilised at subway stations to provide travel advice to tourists. In the fast-food sector, a robotic-armed hamburger flipper Flippy has made his debut as the world’s first robotic kitchen assistant at the CaliBurger chain in Pasadena, California.
The financial benefits of a robot employee are evident. The use of robots leads to increased productivity and labour cost reductions, whilst releasing staff from performing routine or repetitive tasks. In May, a fruit-picking robot, referred to in the media as Robocrop, was introduced onto a fruit farm in West Sussex in the UK. The 1.8 metres tall machine with a robotic arm has the daily task of picking over 25,000 raspberries in a greenhouse.
Brainstorm contributor Kevin Curran talks to BBC Radio Foyle about Robocrop
Robotic options may result in service quality improvement and enhanced value creation with customers whereby service encounters such as hotel check-in and food delivery can be expedited. There are also the intrinsic benefits of the human-robot interface such as the enjoyment and novelty that can arise.
Yet, there are huge financial commitments to developing, testing and finessing robotics. The estimated development cost of the raspberry-picking Robocrop was £700,000. Another deterrent can be employee resistance to their robotic peers, as well as the fundamental question as to whether robots may replace and indeed put human workers out of business. In the case of Robocrop, human workers typically pick 15,000 raspberries over an eight hour period compared to the robotic output of 25,000 berries. Furthermore, the robot can work for up to 20 hours at a time. Equally, robotic resistance can also come from customers who may be wary or sceptical about the learning processes and cultural changes required when dealing with robots.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime. Barry Lenihan meets the world's first social humanoid robot
So whilst there is great excitement and interest at the speed of developments in robotics from a business perspective, there also is a steep learning curve. It is particularly interesting to consider the emerging role of robots in the service sector in areas such as food preparation and delivery, hotels, airports and entertainment. These are people-facing service encounters where many providers seek to differentiate themselves on the basis of the inherent human factor, notably the friendly, attentive, helpful and knowledgeable nature of their staff. Furthermore, there appears to be a wariness, if not reluctance, amongst many customers to interact with automated service enablers such as robots.
In June, global travel data provider OAG presented findings from its survey of 2,000 travellers via its flight tracking app, FlightView. The Airport Delight Report: Human vs. Machines study sought to examine customer’s perceptions of the effectiveness of airports’ use of automation such as robotics, biometrics and advanced security measures.
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BagBots from Digi Robotics providing an automatic baggage loading system for Frankfort, Amsterdam and Heathrow airports
The outstanding finding was that airport travellers prefer human interaction with staff members over automated travel functions. There was a 54% preference for interaction with customer service personnel (over automated alternatives) with regard to baggage handling. Similarly, the desire for human interaction attracted a 55% preference with regard to airport security; 64% for boarding; 83% for concierge service and 80% for in-flight services. The single occasion where customers preferred automation related to ticketing and check-in.
When it came to robots that provide directions around the airport, 19% of travellers perceived that they enhanced the customer experience. Less than 10% of customers were interested in mobile robots that will valet park a car for them on arrival at the airport.
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The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon demos new robots from all over the world, including MIT's Mini Cheetah, a wearable tomato-feeding robot and Sophia, who duet on "Say Something"
It is worth considering that most of the robotic applications to date have assumed the role of productive staff, such as the burger flipping and fruit picking robots mentioned above. Yet, another critical role is currently emerging: the robot as a simulated human whereby the robot not only performs like a human, but also thinks and emotes like a human. In the conference and event arena, one of the most in-demand celebrity speakers is Sophia, the world’s first robot citizen who can read someone’s emotions from their facial expressions and tone of voice and react in a similar manner.
Similarly, in the near future, the technology is developing to provide robotic pets to care for and nurture, not to mention social robots to act as friends and companions. The question then arises - are humans ready to adopt this exciting but disruptive technology?
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
