A receptionist robot performs during a demonstration ahead of the opening of Henn na Hotel, or Weird Hotel, in Sasebo, Japan, Wednesday, July 15, 201 (AP File Photo)
Japan seems intent on cornering the market of robot hotels.
Regardless of how awesome it would be to have a hotel for robots, we are referring to hotels for humans run by robots.
The Asahi Shimbun (h/t CNET) reports Henn-na Hotel, which TravelPulse has gleefully covered in the past, is set to open yet another location – this time near Tokyo’s Disney Resort. According to the report, locals and tourists can expect to enjoy its confines when it opens in March.
The report continues that Huis Ten Bosch Inc., the company that runs the hotels, isn’t content to merely have a couple of robot hotels in the area.
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No, it wants to continue pumping these bad boys out as if they were T-1000s on a line to world domination.
The report states that tourists can expect a third installation to open at some point in the summer of next year in Aichi while a fourth is planned in Osaka in 2017. At that point, we will be searching for John Connor to save us from our robot overlords...but things should be fun in the interim.
Huis Ten Bosch President Hideo Sawada explains there is more value at work than technology, via Asahi: “Both Tokyo and Osaka continue to experience a lack of hotel accommodations. The hotels are sure to be a big success, as they will be installed near outstanding theme parks.”
We recently illustrated how robots and artificial intelligence have spread beyond technology’s previous expanse to cover a wide swath of the industry. In fact, we can now say that much of the innovation has meandered past the realm of curio and into tech that is becoming a crucial part of the travel experience.
The report continues, stating that the now famed dinosaur robot will feature prominently at the second location that is less than a 20-minute walk from the JR Maihama Station.
As for human workers, the need for about 20 actual people on staff has been whittled down to just six.
For the moment, tourists occupying the room will remain human. This, we presume, is subject to change at a moment’s notice.
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