Pepper, a humanoid robot from the Japanese company SoftBank Robotics, began working at St. Pancras Station in London. The robot communicates with the passengers and answers questions.
Representatives of the Eurostar railway company are confident that the station visitors are interested in interacting with the robot. Using the front screen, he shows an interactive map of the station and talks about Eurostar tours.
Pepper also gives advice on what to visit in Paris, Brussels, Lille and Amsterdam, and is happy to take pictures with passengers. Pepper analyzes voices, facial expressions and speech - this is how he recognizes various emotions and reacts to them.
According to the manufacturer, Pepper is the first humanoid in the world, which naturally moves, bypasses obstacles, recognizes sounds and charges itself. At the station St. Pancras the robot will remain until the end of the year, and from 2019 it will start working at other railway stations in the UK.
St. Pancras is not Pepper's first job, as the robot is already actively helping travelers at airports and hotels around the world. For example, two Peppers are already accompanying passengers at Taiwan-Taoyuan International Airport. The manipulator welcomes guests not only at airports - Pepper also works in the museum complex at the Smithsonian Institution. He answers visitors' questions, gives out information and poses for photos.