Pepper is the world’s first humanoid robot capable of reading and reacting to human emotions
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Costa Group is to deploy Pepper, the world’s first humanoid robot capable of reading and reacting to human emotions, onboard its Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises cruise ships.
First launched in June 2014 in Japan by SoftBank and Aldebaran, Pepper is the first humanoid robot in the world that is capable of recognising the main human emotions and acting according to its immediate environment.
Pepper, which is 120cm tall and weighs 28kg, is equipped with a 3D camera to detect and interact with people, as well as voice and emotion recognition technology to enable it to analyse their expressions, voice and tone. The robot also has a ten-inch touch screen, while 17 joints and three omni-directional wheels enable it to move fluidly.
“I am very happy that the Costa Group gave us this opportunity,” said Fumihide Tomizawa, president of Aldebaran and SoftBank Robotics. “Pepper is built to interact with humans, their emotions and needs. We hope that it will fit to improve AIDA’s and Costa’s travellers’ experience.”
As part of Costa Group’s exclusive €1 million agreement with Aldebaran, Pepper will be deployed to help guests with queries and provide recommendations and tips on restaurants, events and excursions. It will be able to communicate in German, Italian and English.
Pepper, which has already been trialled on AIDA Cruises’ AIDAstella, will first appear on AIDAprima and Costa Cruises’ Costa Diadema in spring 2016. They will be rolled out across the rest of the Costa and AIDA fleets by summer 2016.
“With an emotional robot onboard our cruise ships we are once again continuing our tradition of innovation,” said Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group. “For us, this is an important step towards a digital future for our brands. I am confident that our guests will love Pepper.”