Pizza Hut Adding Pepper Robots to Restaurants in Asia
Pizza Hut Adding Pepper Robots to Restaurants in Asia
BY DON REISINGER MAY 24, 2016 12:48PM EST
The move is intended to push MasterCard's MasterPass
digital wallet, which Pepper will accept at the pizza chain.
Hungry for a slice? Ask Pepper, the SoftBank-designed
humanoid robot.
MasterCard has inked a deal with Pizza Hut to bring
Pepper to restaurants across Asia by the end of 2016. The move is intended to
push MasterCard's MasterPass digital wallet, which Pizza Hut patrons can use by
either tapping the Pepper icon within the wallet or by scanning a QR code on
Pepper's display, while connected to Wi-Fi. Pepper can also provide
recommendations and offers.
"Core to our digital transformation journey is the
ability to make it easier for customers to engage, connect and transact with
Pizza Hut," Vipul Chawla, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Restaurants Asia,
said in a statement. "With an order-and-payment-enabled Pepper, customers
can now come to expect personalized ordering at our stores, reduce wait time
for carryout, and have a fun, frictionless user experience."
Unveiled a year ago, Pepper can detect sadness based on
your expressions and voice tones. Using built-in cameras, touch sensors, an
accelerometer, and other senses, the robot is programmed to react
appropriately. It comes with full humanoid traits, including eyes, a nose, and
mouth, and sports a 10.1-inch display, six lasers, two sonars, and more.
Pepper went on sale last year for about $1,700, and
recently had a trial run in a Japanese electronics store. Earlier this month,
SoftBank opened Pepper to Android developers; a beta version of the Pepper SDK
for Android Studio is available now.
Great blog! Can wait for this in our country too. Thanks for sharing.
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