Germany based cruise line Aida will launch its first robotic crew member aboard its new ship, the AIDAprima in April 2016. The four foot interactive robot called Pepper will talk to guests about the ship, activities onboard, entertainment options, itinerary information shore excursions etc. Fluent in English, German and Italian, Pepper has already completed a trial aboard AIDAstella conversing with guests and crew.
The Costa Group entered an agreement with Pepper robots brand for AIDA and Costa Cruises in December 2015. A second Pepper will be launched on Costa Diadema. The cruise line plans to launch 10 Pepper robots on each ship on AIDA and Costa.
All about Pepper
Priced at US$2000 Pepper is said to be the world’s first humanoid robot trained in acknowledging main human emotions. Launched together by Japan based SoftBank and French company Aldebaran in 2014, Pepper analyses various expressions and voice tones with latest advances in voice and emotion recognition.
Features
- Pepper is 120 cm and weighs 28 kg
- It has 17 joints for graceful movements
- 3 omnidirectional wheels to move with agility
- 1 3D camera for detecting people and their movements and interact with them
- A 10-inch touch screen
Image credit: Aldebaran Robotics, Jake Curtis
