Japan robot hotel: Humanoids and dino-robot welcome guests (price details)

Robot playing the piano in the World of Robots exhibition. Wikimedia Commons/Jakub Hałun

Japan's hotel that features robotic employees has finally opened.

The Henn-na Hotel was unveiled to the media last Wednesday, offering robot demonstrations to reporters before its formal opening yesterday, according to a report from The Guardian.

The hotel, located in the middle of Huis Ten Bosch amusement park in Nagasaki, Japan, is the first of its kind in the world.

The centers of attention are the hotel's receptionists: one is a female robot that speaks Japanese, and the other is a dinosaur that speaks English.

Other staff members of the hotel that are made from metal and silicone can understand and speak languages such as Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English to make sure that tourists can successfully interact with them.

Apart from employees being humanoids, the hotel also features a facial recognition technology for guests. The software is used to register guests during check-in.

A robot will also help with the luggage transfer; guests can simply tap on the room number and the robotic porter will deliver the luggage to its designated spot.

Reports also stated that the hotel rooms don't have light switches; guests simply have to instruct "Tuly" to turn the lights on or off.

The tulip-shaped concierge can also provide time and weather information.

According to Hideo Sadawa, founder of the amusement park that operates Henn-na Hotel, the goal of running a hotel filled with robotic employees is to improve efficiency and reduce labor costs.

Sadawa insists the robot-hotel is no gimmick. "I wanted to highlight innovation," he said according to BBC News, adding that he wanted to provide a solution to the rising hotel prices.

However, the hotel is not run by robots 100 percent since they can't do everything. The hotel still employs humans for security.

Real people are behind the task of observing security camera feeds, to make sure guests are comfortable and that no one is playing with the expensive humanoids.

Checking in at Henn-na Hotel (translated as Weird Hotel) will start at 9,000 yen or $80, which is already considered cheap in Japan, while standard hotels have double or triple the price, The Guardian reported.

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