The First Robot Hotel Ready to Host Humans

Isaac Asimov, the renowned science fiction writer, did not live to see this "strange hotel," but is this Japanese hotel, where all the staff including waiters and bellhops are robots, the first territory that robots are set to conquer? Hideo Sawada, the operator of this hotel, believes that the creation of this hotel is not a gimmick to attract customers, but rather a natural progression of technology entering people's lives. "This is a serious effort to utilize technology in life and to gain more efficiency from it." The hotel is named "Henn-na" (meaning strange) and was opened on Wednesday, July 15, in southeastern Japan, in the city of Sasebo. The price for the cheapest room is eighty dollars per night. The Japanese-speaking waitress is a robot designed to look like a woman, while the English-speaking robot is designed to resemble a small dinosaur. Guests must press a button to communicate with these robots at the hotel reception and can interact with them by typing or pressing other buttons. The hotel doorman resembles a bald human who opens the door for you or provides necessary information about the hotel’s programs. However, this doorman (still) cannot call a taxi for you or perform other commands. A drone will be flying in the hotel to carry small food packages for guests, and inside each room, a small pink robot answers simple questions like what time it is or what the weather will be like tomorrow. Since there is no switch to turn the lights on and off in these rooms, you must tell these robots to turn the lights on or off. Japan is a leading country in the robotics industry. The government is very eager to utilize them and has therefore made serious and substantial investments in this technology. However, the issue of robots in Japan is not just for factory work or labor; the Japanese are also very interested in human-robot interaction, such as caring for the elderly. Of course, in this hotel, the security aspect is still the responsibility of humans, and all robot behaviors are monitored through surveillance cameras. Care must also be taken to ensure that these expensive robots are not stolen. In the first few weeks, only half of the hotel’s capacity will be accepted to ensure that everything is going well, after which the robots will take over operations. Welcome to the future!