Humanoid Robot Works as Receptionist in Japan

A robot bearing a striking resemblance to a woman is the new receptionist in several of Tokyo's famous Mitsukoshi department stores, Mitsukoshi sales director Shintaro Yamamoto said on Monday April 20,2015

Aiko Chihara works "like other receptionists", as it greets customers, with the help of a pre-recorded message, and directs them around the store and offers useful information about product new arrivals, Yamamoto said.

Unlike Pepper robots, which attend to clients in Softbank, and NAO robots in Japan's Mitsubishi bank, Aiko cannot interact with clients nor respond to questions

Dressed in a summery kimono, Aiko has the appearance of a 32-year-old woman. She is 1.65 metres tall and can communicate in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Japanese sign language while developers are working to programme it to also speak in Korean.