Eurostar, the high-speed rail service that links the UK and Europe, has introduced a robot to assist and entertain commuters at London’s St Pancras Station.
Pepper the robot poses for a selfie with two children at St Pancras International, London. Image supplied.
The android’s name is Pepper, the brainchild of Japanese company SoftBank Robotics, and according to a Eurostar press release, Pepper is ‘the first robot with the ability to recognise principal human emotions and adapt her own behaviour accordingly’.
The cute and childlike Pepper was designed to interact with travellers who need additional information or help navigating, providing travel tips and entertainment for children and families. Pepper is kitted out with an in-built tablet for users to punch in their routes and questions, and will not decline to take a selfie should you request it.
Pepper is the first travel bot to be deployed in the UK, although SoftBank Robotics has previously launched a Pepper model in Japan, as well as in Taiwan and China in 2016.
‘We are always looking for new ways to innovate, and explore technologies that can help enhance the overall customer experience,’ said Head of Digital at Eurostar, Perrine Allain. ‘Pepper offers a fun way for customers to find out more about their journey and destination, and we look forward to hearing the feedback from our customers so that we can continue to improve their experience.’
Pepper will remain at St Pancras for the rest of the year, but there are plans to move the little bot to other locations in 2019.
Follow Pepper’s activity online and around world on the official Instagram account @pepperrobot – you’ll find that the robot cohort has been quite busy…
