Japan Airlines has started trials of a multilingual, humanoid robot guide at Haneda airport.
The robot is white, 60-centimeters-tall, called Nao and is made by a French company.
It speaks Japanese, English and Chinese and will be placed at the departure counter and security check areas to provide information to passengers on such things as the airport’s facilities and the deadline for security checks.
The robot offers information about flight schedules and the weather at flight destinations.
It will stand in Haneda Terminal 1 for three days this week and three more next week (from Feb. 16 to 18).
Passengers who tried the machine were pleasantly surprised at the quality its voice recognition.
JAL said it will decide whether to employ the robot in future will depend upon its performance.
Nao was featured on Japanese TV station ANN News.
N.B. Image credit: youtube.com/ANNnewsCH
About Japan Airlines (JL)
Japan Airlines the second largest airline in Japan after ll Nippon Airways. It is headquartered in Tokyo.
Routes: JAL flies to 51 countries and covers all continents. As of April 1, 2015, JAL flew 52 international routes and 117 domestic routes.
Fleet: JAL Group had 223 aircraft as of September 30, 2015, comprising;
- 23 Boeing 787
- 41 Boeing 777
- 44 Boeing 767
- 62 Boeing 737
- 15 Embraer 170
- 16 Bombardier DHC8
- 9 Bombardier CRJ200
- 13 Saab 340B
Alliance: oneworld