One of Japan's hotels features a robot dinosaur for a receptionist. Henn na hotel has replaced humans with an almost entirely robotic staff. Henn na or "Weird Hotel" in English translation is located in Japan's Sasebo, Nagasaki.
The Japanese hotel has opened its doors to the public this week. Everything there is handled entirely by a robotic staff, from check-in to checkout. Guests are greeted on arrival by either an English speaking dinosaur velocirapor or a Japanese-speaking female humanoid.
Since the two robot receptionists aren't intelligent enough to hold a proper conversation, the hotel guests are required to use a touch screen panel to tap in their information. The guests also have their photo taken for the facial recognition room keyless system. A robot porter guides the guests to their room and handles their luggage.
The rooms have no light switches, being activated instead by Tuly, the hotel's tulip-shaped concierge. Tuly can also provide information about the weather forecast and the time. Unfortunately, Tuly cannot yet direct the guests to the nearest McDonalds or call a cab for them.
The remaining luggage is handled by a giant robotic arm. Hideo Sawada, the hotel manager, explained for The Guardian that since the accommodation is also part of an amusement park in Nagasaki Prefecture, this is as much about innovation as it is about having fun.
The starting price for a room in the Henn na Hotel at the equivalent of $60 is bargain compared to other hotels in Japan. Not having to pay salaries for staff saves much on costs. The hotel uses human staff only for the security team.
Sawada has plans to expand his robot hotel concept by opening other similar hotels in Japan and abroad. He's also intends to add more robots to the existing hotel, including drones to fly jars filled with snacks and a robot to deliver room service.
For those tourists who like as little contact as possible, this new hotel in Japan may be the perfect choice. The five-star Henn-na Hotel, seems also pretty safe to say in. This pinnacle of technological innovation and creativity shows once more the trend of introducing robots in Japan's everyday life.
Japan leads the way with robotic creations, but the western world is striving to catch up. Recently, a Cruise company called Royal Caribbean started to use robotic bartenders on its ship, Quantum of the Seas, and the UK's Moley Robotics is working on a project to develop a robotic kitchen.
