South Korean tech giant LG has announced it will unveil a trio of new robots at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.
Last year, LG launched several robots, and in 2018, it intends to expand its line-up with three new ‘concept robot’ models specifically developed for use in hotels, airports and supermarkets.
These new robots are the Serving Robot, Porter Robot and Shopping Cart Robot and all fall under LG’s CLOi brand (pronounced ‘Cloh-ee’). They join LG’s Airport Guide Robot and Airport Cleaning Robot that have been successfully trialled at Incheon International Airport, which serves the Korean capital of Seoul.
LG claims it has also had success with the Lawn Mowing Robot and the affable Hub Robot, which have likewise taken part in trials at an unnamed Korean financial organisation, providing information and servicing to customers.
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High-tech helpers
The Serving Robot is one of LG’s most practical robots, according to the company, delivering meals and drinks to guests and customers in hotels and airport lounges “quickly and efficiently”.
The Porter Robot also aims to boost efficiency, in this case by delivering luggage straight to guest’s hotel rooms and thus minimising “the inconvenience that may result from slow service and long wait times during a hotel stay.” It also offers express check-in and check-out services and can take customer payments.
Along with airports and hotels, LG is also looking to improve the customer experience at supermarkets with the Shopping Cart Robot. This will enable customers to scan items and view prices on the robot’s display. It will also help them locate items.
The CLOi robots, LG said, will be “developed in parallel to ThinQ products, LG’s AI brand for consumer electronics and home appliances”. This suggests that the company has plans for these robots to ‘learn’ more tasks over time.
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