CCTV9英语新闻：Robots shaking things up at Berlin travel fair

Are the machines taking over? Well not yet, but they are making quite an impression at the international travel fair in Berlin. Two humanoid robots - named Chihira Kanae and Mario - are at the event, to show how hey can be put to use in the travel and hospitality industries.

 

Despite modern technology, the travel industry remains a people business. 

 

But some hotels and airlines are toying with new robot technology, in a bid to liven up certain processes such as check-in or to help people running to make a flight.

 

Toshiba showed off its lifelike humanoid robot hostess in Berlin. She answers pre-programmed questions about the fair and even what her favorite film is.

 

Toshiba showed off its lifelike humanoid robot hostess in Berlin. She answers pre-programmed questions about the fair and even what her favorite film is. 

 

Toshiba showed off its lifelike humanoid robot hostess in Berlin. She answers pre-programmed questions about the fair and even what her favorite film is.

 

Some visitors found her movements and blinking eyes to be rather disconcerting.

 

"Slightly scary. You don't expect that she is turning around and changes her facial expression. She is blinking. This is the future, scary future. But it's not bad," visitor Elisa Hoenig said.

 

But don't bother asking her out for a date...

 

"Actually I like her. What I have missed a bit was that she wouldn't answer my more specific questions. I wanted to invite her for dinner, but it didn't work out. She blinked with her eyes, and women mean something with that," said Volker Feuerstein, journalist.

 

A survey of travelers across several countries, conducted by online travel and entertainment site Travelzoo, showed that 80 percent of consumers expect robots to play a big role in their lives by 2020.

 

"I think we are already seeing robots within travel and pretty much most sectors - so cruise, airlines, airports, hotels," said Richard Singer, European president, Travelzoo Internet Company.

 

"And I think what we are seeing them being used for today is sort of lower skilled roles, things like room service or, you know, luggage sorting, so we are seeing that already today, but I think it's really about the next development of robots which is gonna play a really significant part of travel going into the future." 

 

But the survey also showed varying levels of resistance to the whole idea.

 

"It's different with different countries. So China is very positive, the Brits and the Germans less so, so what you see with the British, for example, is they feel that robots might lack nuances of language and culture and humor and you see the Spanish, which will be a fear of loss of jobs, because of robots," Richard said.

 

Meanwhile, the Marriott hotel in Ghent is trying out a less lifelike robot. The hotel uses him to hand out room keys and even enliven meetings...

 

"And we learnt how to use Mario in our hotel in three ways. One is at the front desk to welcome our customers in 19 different languages and to assist the front office in handing out the key card," said Roger Langhout, General Manager, Marriott Hotel in Ghent.

 

"The second part is our meeting and events departments. Mario can do the opening of a conference, addressing the entire group of people, and also he can read out powerpoint presentations. The third piece where we use Mario is for entertainment. He can dance, he can sing, he can put on a show, and he can also interact during a sports game, with kids for instance." 

 

The robot company says their aim is not to replace human beings, but to work alongside them in order to assist.