In search of extra efficiency, the Henn-Ha Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan is employing a host of robots to staff the hotel instead of humans.

It is the first fully robotic hotel and is one of many Japanese commercial robot projects happening throughout the country, showing how far robotics has come.

Like Us on Facebook

Robotics company Kokoro is developing the robots for the hotel, designed with a human-like body. The robots will be able to gesture, keep eye contact and respond to guests.

The robots will also be able to carry luggage to the room, provide catering service and clean rooms. Kokoro has designed them to look like typical female Japanese hotel staff.

Capable of speaking in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English, the robots will be serviceable for almost every language coming to Nagasaki.

Henn-Ha Hotel will also provide human staff if guests feel uncomfortable with the robots, although company president Hideo Sawada wants robots controlling 90 percent of the day-to-day jobs at the hotel within the next few years.

The robots are not the only feature of the Henn-Ha Hotel that is futuristic. Guests will use facial recognition to get inside their rooms, instead of the simple key or NFC phone lock that most hotels incorporate.

Temperatures will be moderated through a radiation panel, which can control heating in the room automatically. Guests will also be provided with a tablet to call reception and order room service, instead of the traditional phone or bell.

Room fees will start at $60 per night, hopefully reduced in price compared to hotels staffing all human workers.

Even though this does seem like the start of the retail robot revolution, we wouldn't get excited just yet. The robots still seem to be unfavorable compared to human staff, and some of the issues with customer service still need tuning before robots can fully take over the human hotel staff.

TagsRobots, Nagasaki, hotel staff