- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 05:18 06:35 12:07 15:10 17:33 18:50
Robots operated by Alibaba's logistics unit Cainiao, move parcels at a new automated guided vehicles (AGV) warehouse inside the hub of delivery company YTO Express, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. (Reuters)
The robotics industry is revolutionizing the world, and Alibaba A.I. Labs is raising the stakes in this cutting-edge industry with the announcement of launching service robots for the hospitality sector starting in October. The news was made at The Computing Conference 2018, which is scheduled for four days till September 22 in Hangzhou, China, the site of Alibaba’s headquarters.
Alibaba A.I. Labs is the department leading consumer AI product development at Alibaba.
Hotels have until now depended entirely on human labor. But the labs' service robot - from delivering meals to taking laundry to guests - demonstrates what guests can expect at hotels in the future. Guests talk to the robot via voice command, touch and hand gesture, and its responses are driven by AliGenie, the software that powers Alibaba A.I. Labs’ smart speaker, Tmall Genie.
"We are excited by this tremendous development that is helping us bridge the gap between guest needs and the response time that they expect. Alibaba A.I. Labs’ robot is the next step in the evolution towards smart hotels. In addition, it is solving pain points in the hotel sector, such as enhancing service efficiency, with our leading AI technologies,” says Lijuan Chen, General Manager of Alibaba A.I. Labs. "The robot will be the ultimate assistant for hotel guests who want everything quickly and conveniently at their fingertips.”
The technology that drives the Labs’ service robot is state-of-the-art, combining aluminum casing with multi-sensor data functionality and parallel computing for lightning quick responses. It also includes a semantic map, autonomous navigation system to identify obstacles, communication systems to control elevators, and identity verification via facial-recognition technology.
The robot’s height is less than one meter, while its walking speed reaches one meter per second. After a trial at a hotel, Alibaba A.I. Labs will assess its suitability for other areas, including hospitals, restaurants and office services.
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