Alibaba A.I. Labs Launches Hospitality Robot
September 20 2018 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
The service robot is expected to begin
servicing guests at a hotel in October
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.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, the
global market for service robots are on the rise. The market is
expected to grow from 20% to 25% from 2018 to 2020, while the sales
forecast 2018-2020 indicates a cumulative volume of around 27
billion U.S. dollars for the professional service segment.
Following the unveiling of the robot, Alibaba A.I. Labs also
announced Tmall Genie Auto, the latest initiative in smart mobility
and expanding the Tmall Genie ecosystem.
Tmall Genie is the most popular smart speaker in China, with
over 5 million units sold since its launch in 2017. It ranks number
three in total shipments in the global smart-speaker market.
For the latest announcements and talks from The Computing
Conference 2018, please refer to the Alizila page:
https://www.alizila.com/the-computing-conference-2018-media-resources
About Alibaba A.I. Labs
Alibaba A.I. Labs is dedicated to exploring the next-generation
human-and-computer interaction and turning novel user experience
into reality. The in-house R&D department focuses on the
development of innovative AI applications across Alibaba’s commerce
ecosystem and provides AI solutions to Alibaba’s clients and
partners. With a world-class research team, Alibaba A.I. Labs
focuses on both theoretical research and product commercialization
in various areas, including speech recognition, natural language
processing, voice print identification, deep learning, and computer
vision. The Labs also focuses on developing AI products for
consumers, including Tmall Genie, the first voice-controlled smart
home assistant developed by the Labs.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180919005903/en/
Alibaba GroupCrystal Liu+852 6378 5626 / +86
18578497650crystal.liu@alibaba-inc.com
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024