Robots are getting more and more advanced, and these automated machines have managed to become helpful to humans in many different ways.
We've heard all heard it a thousand times before - robots will be replacing human jobs in the future.
And it's true! As technology is advancing, robots are finally on the verge of becoming more useful and more and more complex.
I have already reported about an automated pizza delivery robot in the past, but now, a robot is even ringing up customers at pizza hut!
Meet Pepper - the robot that works for Pizza Hut stores in Asia and takes care of customers' orders!
The Pepper Robot
"Pepper" is an advanced humanoid robot created by Japanese company SoftBankRobotics.
He moves on 3 multi-directional wheels powered by 20 engines, with a maximum speed of 3km/h and 12 hours of battery life.
Pepper has a built-in tablet on his chest and there are 2 integrated HD cameras as well as one 3D camera that gives him the ability to see and analyze his surroundings.
He also comes with a built-in obstacle avoidance mechanism, and is connected to the Internet through his tablet.
Focus on emotions
The Pepper robot is focused on Emotions - it comes with in-built facial recognition that can identify principal emotions like joy, sadness, anger or surprise.
He can also interpret your mood by recognizing a smile, frown, non-verbal language like the angle of a head tilt, the tone of voice, and the lexical field the customer uses.
This way, Pepper can tell whether the customer he's serving is in a good or bad mood.
The latest creation from SoftBank Robotics, Pepper is the first robot designed to live with humans. Engaging and friendly, Pepper is much more than a robot, he’s a companion able to communicate with you through the most intuitive interface we know: voice, touch and emotions.
The Robot At Pizza Hut
"Pepper" is now one of the employees at selected Pizza Hut Locations across Asia.
Pizza Hut Asia has teamed up with Mastercard to make this possible, and the first robots have been on active duty since the beginning of the year.
Functions of "Pepper" at Pizza Hut include:
- Greet customers
- Provide information about products
- Customers can order on Pepper's tablet
- Integrated payment system: Masterpass by Mastercard
- Provide recommendations about products
"We are excited to welcome Pepper to the Pizza Hut family. Core to our digital transformation journey is the ability to make it easier for customers to engage, connect and transact with Pizza Hut. With an order-and-payment-enabled Pepper, customers can now come to expect personalized ordering at our stores, reduce wait time for carryout, and have a fun, frictionless user experience."-Vipul Chawla, managing director of Pizza Hut Restaurants Asia
Robots - a threat for jobs in the fast food industry ?
As I mentioned above, we've all heard a thousand times before that jobs are going to take over our jobs in the future.
But it seems like this is a particular threat for the fast food industry!
Digital ordering terminals have becoming very popular to speed up the order process for the customer and reduce labor costs. While robots haven't been tested in fast food restaurants in the US yet, Mc Donalds USA CEO Ed Rensi has stated that it will probably happen in the near future, warning that it replacing humans with robots will become more and more efficient, especially if the minimum wage is raised above $15..
He said:
"It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries. It's nonsense and it's very destructive and it's inflationary and it's going to cause a job loss across this country like you're not going to believe."
What do you think about "Pepper" the robot at Pizza Hut, and about the future of robots in general? Will they overtake minimum wage jobs soon?
© Sirwinchester