Nestle, not content with replacing baristas with Nespresso machines and pods, is now turning to robots. Nestle Japan is set to introduce 1000 robot sales assistants named “Pepper” to serve its Nescafe stores. Just when you thought robots taking over the world was a long way off.
The robots will work in-store selling Nestle’s coffee capsules and espresso machines. The humanoids, developed by French company, Aldebaran and manufactured in Taiwan, move on rollers and have a tablet attached to the front that is used to give commands.
“Pepper” is 120 centimetres tall and has already had some retail experience in Japan’s Softbank outlets, proving to be a successful marketing tool. “Pepper” has high-tech voice and emotion recognition technology making it one of the most advanced robots ever created. The robot can read facial expressions and interpret tone of voice, according to Nestle Japan.
Whether the robots will make their way to Australian stores is unconfirmed however Nestle Japan president, Kohzo Takaoka said, "We hope this new type of made-in-Japan customer service will take off around the world."
Nescafe might be hard pressed to convince Aussie coffee lovers a robot can make a decent flat white.
The robots will be in 1000 Nescafe stores by the end of 2015.
UPDATE: This story incorrectly linked the robots to Nespresso. It has been corrected to reflect Nescafe.
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