Hitachi starts trials humanoid robot at Haneda Airport
EMIEW3, a humanoid robot developed by Hitachi, guides a passenger at Haneda airport in Tokyo during a demonstration on Friday. (Kyodo photo)
During the trials through December in the domestic Terminal 2 at the airport, the robot will communicate with passengers in Japanese and English at a designated information centre and display relevant information.
The Japanese industrial conglomerate is hoping to enable the 90-centimetre tall humanoid robot with autonomous capabilities to guide users to destinations starting around December.
At a demonstration on Friday, a female foreign passenger asked EMIEW3 for directions to a foreign exchange counter. The humanoid robot at the information centre called another EMIEW3 robot to take her to the shop. “Please follow me,” the robot said.
Since the introduction of EMIEW in 2005, Hitachi has been improving its capabilities. The newest EMIEW3 with a “remote brain” that can process images and voices was unveiled in April. Multiple robots can be linked with the use of a remote operation system, according to Hitachi.
“We are hoping to use EMIEW3 to assist efforts to extend hospitality at Haneda airport through our trial runs,” said Hiroshi Sato, senior vice president and executive officer at Hitachi.
A recent increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan has raised the need for a variety of services, Sato said, expressing hope to increase the number of EMIEW3 languages available to include Chinese and Korean.
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