Robot Hotel?!

Any robot fans around? Not quite along the line of Gundam and the likes but, well-renowned as the Japanese are for their robotics prowess, it comes as no surprise that Japan has recently announced the launch of a hotel, run (almost) entirely by – you guessed it – robots.

Irrashaimase!!! Image from extremetech.com

The Henn-na Hotel opens this July and will be staffed by human-like robots (that resemble Japanese women, in case anyone’s wondering). Having the ability to communicate with guests in various languages, namely Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English, the robotic team manages to tighten the communication gap for tourists. Additionally, the hotel is said to use renewable energy sources to operate both hotel and staff. Innovative and environmentally more sustainable, the idea seems brilliant and novel. If successful, imagine the possibilities that such advancements can achieve when applied in various fields!

Touted as a “smart hotel”, with facial recognition features replacing generic room keys and cards, the hotel provides an alternative experience. It does raise several questions though – what are the effects of a loss of human touch, and, if a success, how will it affect the job market, and tourism in general?

Robot technology when misused, can paint a bleak future on humanity. Image from worldstarhiphop.com

It is definitely an interesting prospect, though, and one can’t really help but be excited to see how such a venture turns out. What do you guys think of this – exciting? Or will the robot staff be just plain creepy?

Written by: Jie’R

Edited by: Jessel Eng