Hotel staffed by robots to open in Japan

by
in hardware on (#2WYX)
story imageThe world's first hotel staffed almost entirely by robots and controlled by the latest in computer technology is slated to open, yes, in Japan. The hotel will initially be staffed by 10 robots working alongside humans to provide a wide range of services from manning the reception desk to carrying bags and cleaning rooms. The management hopes to eventually "have more than 90 percent of hotel services operated by robots."

In addition to the robots, the 72-room facility will feature high-tech gadgetry. Instead of traditional air conditioning, for example, rooms will feature radiation panels that will automatically detect body heat and create a "comfortable indoor environment with no unevenness." Hotel guests will also be able to access their rooms using facial recognition technology instead of room keys. The Henn-na is planned to be built in two stages, with the first stage opening July 17. A second stage will consist of an additional 72 rooms and is due to be completed the following year.
Reply 3 comments

Facial recognicion (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2015-02-07 22:14 (#2WZ0)

So you just have to put on a mask with the face of the hotel guest residing in the room in order to open it? Or even better, get the mask of some employee (there certainly will be jobs that won't be replaced by robots, say hotel security) and be able to enter every room you want!

Re: Facial recognicion (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2015-02-08 03:00 (#2WZ8)

Recognition systems are getting better. Newer ones use depth scanning to grab a 3d model of the target. Perhaps it could be fooled with a cardboard cutout. More to the point: how do you get someone's face and room number and also avoid all security to get in to and out of the room? A smart workaround would be to have a snapshot of all door unlocks sent to central security for human review.

They will probably fail (Score: 1)

by cyberthanasis12@pipedot.org on 2015-02-08 23:19 (#2WZG)

The devil is in the details. There is no such as thing as typical hotel customers. 9 out of 10 are special cases for one or another reason. And AIs (robots) are not even close in handling special cases.

Anyway the trend of robots taking the jobs of humans has begun. I wonder if the society will proceed like in the novels of Asimov, and robots become illegal (for non-dangerous jobs).