Star Alliance member EVA Air — the airline that flies Hello Kitty jets — has introduced a ‘peppy robot’ named Pepper to each of Taiwan’s two airports.
Passengers can go up to pepper, scan their boarding passes, and get information about their flight and weather at their destinations. But this isn’t just a kiosk meant to displace ground staff. It’s also a sales robot, which will provide passengers with information about “duty-free specials and EVA promotions.”
Credit: EVA Air
But what’s the best way to make a sale? By being fun. Pepper robots apparently play games and dance.
So far there are two Pepper robots — one at the front of the international check-in counters at Taiwan Songshan airport, and the other in the reception area between the Infinity and the Star lounges at Taiwan Taoyuan. (One Mile at a Time once described the Infinity business class lounge as “the lovechild of TRON and The Love Boat.”)
Passengers interact with the accommodating robot by using a touch screen and through its eyes.
Pepper understands and responds in Chinese for now and EVA will add English and Japanese language capabilities by the end of March 2017.
Here was Pepper’s runway debut:
FFS, we know how this story ends. They take over. They destroy us all. Someone drop Pepper in a swimming pool and short circuit that thing. Quickly. And take Watson too. The species depends on it.
Pepper, can you upgrade me on my next flight? No? You’re dead to me.
Seriously though, if they offer a way to negotiate with the robot for upgrades there’d be more interest.