Tokyo-Mitsubishi to Introduce Humanoid Robot for Customer Service

Tokyo, Feb. 2 (Jiji Press)--Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ unveiled on Monday a prototype of a humanoid robot it plans to introduce in spring on a trial basis at one or two of its branches in Tokyo to work as a member of its customer service staff. The robot is 58 centimeters tall and weighs 5.4 kilograms. It was developed by installing special software into the NAO humanoid robot of a Softbank Corp. <9984> unit. The robot can recognize customers with its cameras as they enter a bank branch and guide them to the correct windows, depending on their needs. It can also read customers' facial expressions and hold conversations in 19 different languages. After a trial in which the robot will be act as an assistant to human staff members and seeing how customers react to it, the bank will decide whether to officially introduce the robot. Among other Japanese banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Banks are also trying to utilize artificial intelligence for understanding and responding to people's words. The two banks plan to introduce the Watson artificial intelligence system, developed by International Business Machines Corp. of the United States, at their call centers with the aim of streamlining the work of answering phone calls. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said Monday that it will also introduce the Watson system to improve the quality of its customer services. <8306> <8316> <8411> END