The so-called Double Robot is meant to enhance customer relations at an airport that serves more than 7 million travelers each year, according to a statement from the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The robot features a customer service worker's face on an iPad—as if you were speaking to the representative on Face Time or Skype—and it sports a blue polo shirt on its skinny Segway-like body.
When Cliff Willms was told he could ask the robot questions, he said he wasn't ready to do that.
"I'd rather ask a human a question, than a machine," Willms told The Indianapolis Star. "At this point, I'm good with just gawking at it."
But airport officials say customer service can come in many forms.
“This initiative combines our staff’s longstanding commitment to traditional Hoosier Hospitality with an innovative technology that can multiply its benefits,” Michael Wells, president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority's board, said in the statement.
Other travelers said they liked the robot.
"I think it's fantastic," Joe Asen said. "It's great customer service. He's a nice guy, by the way."
The airport is hosting an employee contest to come up with a name for the robot. Double Robot isn't catchy enough, apparently.
Damien's note: Perhaps it should be R2Jeeves2. Or CJeevesPO. Or the classics: Gort or Robby. Or, if we go with a feminine persona, Rosie. I suppose if one went with the British aristocracy's habit of calling male and female servants by their surname, and if the customer service person whose face appears on the iPad may be male or female depending on who is staffing at the moment, perhaps it should be addressed as a generic surname. The most common surname in the world appears to be Lee (spelled differently but pronounced similarly in a number of languages), which also works as a male or female first name.
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