NAO Robot Bank Assistant in English

Описание: Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo, Japan is evaluating the use of an Aldebaran NAO humanoid robot to provide information and assistance to branch customers.

Since the robot can recognize and parse verbal questions as well as speaking a number of languages, they hope that by using the robots the bank will be able to provide a high level of consistent customer support. During the evaluation the questions and responses have deliberately been limited to basic items like describing the location of ATMs; information on opening a new account, and similar common customer inquires. Later, assuming that the bank decides to deploy the robot assistant system throughout their network of hundreds of branches in Japan, the question/response database will be expanded based on actual customer interactions.

In this video, the robot is switched from Japanese to English. When it is asked about ATMs in the branch, it recognizes the question and explains where the ATMs are located. Then it is asked about the process of opening a new account. The robot explains that the new account process requires explaining quite a few detailed itams and suggests that the customer bring someone along that can understand and speak Japanese.

In addition to the improved customer service and satisfaction, the bank will also benefit from a public image indicating that it is adopting the latest state-of-the-art technology. This can be a major plus for Japanese banks that are traditionally perceived to be old-fashioned and reserved, an image that can be a negative factor in attracting younger new customers.