It’s OK if this greeter seems a little robotic.
A business in Japan Monday debuted its new “employee” Aiko Chihira who will stand at the entrance and welcome people at Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo.
But she’s not like the other workers running around the store.
Chihira represents the highest level of technology available for store greeters. The stunning humanoid robot, developed by Toshiba Corp., looks very realistic and dresses in a bright kimono with her brown hair pulled back.
She is equipped with 43 motors and is able to communicate in Japanese, sign language and can be programmed for other languages.
She also blinks and lip synched to a song performed by Japanese opera singer Shoko Iwashita at her opening gala.
The store hopes to continue to develop Chihira so that she could also be able to answer questions and handle complaints. And presumably other things the humans won’t want to deal with.
For now the robo-retail worker is able to give speeches about the store, its products and future events and promotions.
With News Wire Services
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