Revista Tur smo & Desenvolvimento | n.

o 27/28 | 2017 | [ 1501 - 1517 ]

e-ISSN 2182-1453

Adoption of robots and service automation by

tourism and hospitality companies
STANISLAV IVANOV * [stanislav.ivanov@vumk.eu]

CRAIG WEBSTER ** [cwebster3@bsu.edu]

KATERINA BEREZINA *** [katerina@katerinaberezina.com]

Abstract | This paper explores the current state and the potential adoption of service automation and
robots by tourist, travel and hospitality companies. Despite the huge advancements in social robotics,
the research on robots in tourism has been extremely limited – a gap that is partially filled by this paper.
Specifically the paper looks at service automation in hotels, restaurants, events, theme and amusement
parks, airports, car rental companies, travel agencies and tourist information centres, museums and
art galleries. The paper elaborates on the challenges that companies will face when adopting service
automation and robots to serve tourists.

Key-words | Robots, service automation, technology adoption, tourism, hospitality

* PhD from University of Economics-Varna, Bulgaria.Professor, Varna University of Management

** PhD from Binghamton University, USA.Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
*** PhD from University of Florida, USA.Assistant Professor, College of Hospitality and Tourism Leadership, University
of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2964308

1502 | RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | IVANOV et al.

1. Introduction and productivity, deliver consistent product quality

and transfer some of the service delivery process
Robots have arrived and are here to stay. In to the customers. While the application of artifi-
recent years the world has witnessed significant cial intelligence in travel, tourism and hospitality
progress in artificial intelligence, robotics and ser- companies has received some, although not suffici-
vice automation (Kanda & Ishiguro, 2012; Neapo- ent, attention by scholars (Borràs, Moreno & Valls,
litan & Jiang, 2013; Russell & Norvig, 2010; Sa- 2014), research in the field of service automation
mani, 2016; Warwick, 2012). Robots are used in and the adoption of robots by them is extremely
the production process as industrial robots (Coles- scarce (Murphy, Hofacker & Gretzel, 2017). That
tock, 2005; Pires, 2007), in transportation as au- is why this paper aims to elaborate on the cur-
tonomous vehicles (Maurer, Gerdes, Lenz, & Win- rent and potential adoption of robots and service
ner, 2016), in medicine for diagnoses and surgery automation by travel, tourism and hospitality com-
(Kaur, 2012; Mirheydar & Parsons, 2013), in edu- panies. It provides a review of what travel, tourism
cation (Fridin & Belokopytov, 2014; Ivanov, 2016; and hospitality companies currently do and what
Timms, 2016), in warehouses and supply chain they could do in terms of service automation and
management (Min, 2010), in agriculture (Dries- adoption of robots.
sen & Heutinck, 2015) etc. Social robots enter
our lives as companions and assistants for the el-
derly (Louie, McCaoll & Nejat, 2014; Yamazaki
et al., 2012) and for children with special needs 2. Literature review
(e.g. autism) (Barakova et al., 2015). Robots
are used for entertainment (Veloso, 2002), mili- Following the industrial revolution, technologi-
tary and surveillance operations (Sparrow, 2007; cal advances entered the services industry provi-
Crootof, 2015). Numerous other applications of ding opportunities for service automation (Collier,
artificial intelligence, service automation and ro- 1983). Automation refers to the process of using
botics could be emphasised, but the ones already machinery for completing “predetermined or repro-
mentioned reveal how they permeate our lives. grammable sequence of tasks” in the service deli-
Artificial intelligence, service automation and very (p. 11). Early examples of service automation
robots are entering travel, tourism and hospitality included automatic teller machines (ATMs), con-
as well (Gladstone, 2016; Ritzer, 2015). Henn- veyors, store self-check-out, and vending machi-
na hotel in Japan (http://www.h-n-h.jp/en/), for nes. Further development of information and com-
example, is completely automated and the guests munication technologies leads to continued advan-
do not encounter any of the employees. Wynn cement of customer experience and service effi-
hotel in Las Vegas has announced in December ciency (Law, Buhalis, & Cobanoglu, 2014). For
2016 that it will introduce in all its rooms Ama- example, self-service check-in kiosks in airports
zon’s Echo voice-controlled speaker, equipped with may allow travelers to reduce waiting time in the
the Alexa digital assistant (HotelManagement.net, airport, proceed to the gate faster, and, therefore,
2016), while Aloft Hotels use Siri (Lodging Maga- improve customer experience. Similarly, mobile
zine, 2016). A completely automated restaurant is applications, such as NoWait, allow customers to
also forthcoming in New York (Marks, 2016). Ser- see waiting times for nearby restaurants, get on the
vice automation, artificial intelligence and robotics waiting list remotely, track how many parties are
provide vast opportunities to travel, tourism and ahead of them, and arrive to the restaurant at the
hospitality companies to improve their operations right time to be seated to ensure a smooth dining

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2964308

 RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | 1503

experience (Perez, 2014). Other technologies that letising, and other related tasks in manufacturing
may contribute to service automation include, but and production (Colestock, 2005; Murphy et al.,
are not limited to 3D printing, self-driving cars, 2017; Pires, 2007). In contrast, service robots are
and robotic technologies. designed to support and service humans through
Robots may be described as “intelligent phy- physical and social interactions. Furthermore, ser-
sical devices” (Chen & Hu, 2013, p. 161) with vice robots may be classified into professional ser-
a certain degree of autonomy, mobility, and sen- vice robots (the ones employed by companies) and
sory capabilities that allow them to perform inten- personal service robots (the ones used by indivi-
ded tasks (International Organization for Standar- duals for non-commercial tasks). According to the
dization, 2012; Murphy et al., 2017; Tan, Mohan, International Federation of Robotics, the use of in-
& Watanabe, 2016). The degree of autonomy in dustrial and service robots continues to grow. For
this case refers to the robot’s ability to perform its example, in 2015 the unit sales of industrial robots
tasks without a human intervention. Such auto- increased by 15% (IFR, 2016a), and service robots
nomy may be influenced by the complexity of the by 25% (IFR, 2016b) in comparison to 2014.
environment where a robot operates, as well as As a services industry, the hospitality and tou-
by inherent characteristics of a robot, such as in- rism field has attracted the use of professional ser-
telligence, mobility, and sensory abilities. Sensors vice robots. Therefore, this paper proceeds with
are the built-in devices that allow a robot to learn further consideration of professional service robots
about its environment and interact with it. The and their applications in different segments of the
key tasks of a robot usually determine the need hospitality and tourism industry.
for certain sensors. Such sensors often resemble
human’s senses and may include light sensors (vi-
sion), pressure sensors (touch), taste, and hearing
sensors (Ruocco, 2013). 3. Adoption of robots and service automation
Based on the intended application, all robots by travel, tourism and hospitality companies
may be grouped into two major categories: indus- – current use and potential opportunities
trial robots and service robots (International Or-
ganization for Standardization, 2012). As indica- Tables 1 presents some main examples of ser-
ted by the name, industrial robots are used for vice automation and robot adoption in travel, tou-
performing industrial tasks, such as welding, pal- rism and hospitality companies which are further
elaborated in the text.
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Table 1 | Main examples of service automation and robot adoption in travel, tourism and hospitality companies
 RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | 1505

Source: own construction

3.1. Hotels rezina, 2015; Citycenter Land, LLC, 2017; Hilton

Honors, 2017; Marriott International, Inc., 2016;
MGM Resorts International, 2017). Additionally,
Service automation and robotic technologies mobile technology continues to develop to inte-
have made their way into the lodging segment of grate mobile service ordering into a seamless hotel
the hospitality industry, affecting different areas of guest experience that would bring a convenience of
hotel operations (López, Pérez, Zalama, & Gómez- communicating in real time and placing requests
García-Bermejo, 2013; Rodriguez-Lizundia, Mar- right to customer fingertips (Trejos, 2015).
cos, Zalama, Gómez-García-Bermejo, & Gorda- Robots may be found in different departments
liza, 2015). Hotels implemented self-service kiosks of hotels serving customers and supporting em-
that enable customers to complete check-in and ployee tasks. The hotel Henn-na that was mentio-
check-out process automatically without involving ned earlier is the first robot-staffed hotel (Rajesh,
front desk agents (Kim & Qu, 2014). Later, the 2015) that strives to achieve “ultimate efficiency”
capabilities of check-in/out services were offered (http://www.h-n-h.jp/en/). The hotel features
to customers on their mobile devices to further robotic front desk agents, porters, in-room assis-
improve convenience and service speed (e.g., Be-
1506 | RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | IVANOV et al.

tants, vacuum cleaners, and a robotic arm ope- 2016). Connie can communicate with hotel guests
rating the luggage storage room. In 2014 Aloft answering their questions about hotel amenities
Hotels started testing a robotic delivery robot de- and services and providing suggestions for nearby
veloped by Savioke (see Figure 1) (Markoff, 2014). attractions and activities. Also, due to the ar-
This robot can navigate the hotel, use the eleva- tificial intelligence supporting Connie, this robot
tor, and call the guest room to deliver requested can learn from every interaction with guests, and,
items to the customer’s door step. In 2016 Hil- therefore, improve its future answers.
ton hotels launched a robotic concierge “Connie”
that is powered by artificial intelligence (Hilton,

Figure 1 | Hotel delivery robot by Savioke (photo taken at HITEC2015, Austin, Texas, USA)

Source: photo credit by Katerina Berezina

Even though automation and robotic techno- technology, robots may wow hotel guests and sti-
logies have already reached different hotel depart- mulate customer delight.
ments, adoption of this technologies is still low.
Therefore, in the future the lodging industry may
observe higher penetration of such technologies. 3.2. Restaurants
Additionally, other robot types may enter this in-
dustry segment, such as robots washing and fol- The restaurant industry has automated both
ding laundry. Industry examples, such as hotel the food service and food preparation stages.
Hann-na, offer a prototype for full service automa- Automated table-side ordering has been integra-
tion. Service automation through self-service and ted in different restaurants, such as, AppleBee’s,
robotic technologies offers opportunities for redu- Chili’s, Olive Garden, and Outback Steakhouse
ced labor costs, and increased efficiency of hotel (Hill, 2015). Table-side ordering was made possi-
operations. Moreover, as a rare and innovative ble by using tablet technology (see Figure 2) (Hill,
 RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | 1507

2015) and touch-screen tables, such as Microsoft example, Pizza Hut has recruited humanoid robot
PixelSense (Aamoth, 2014). These technologies Pepper to take customer orders in a conversational
may allow customers to browse the menu, see de- manner. Pepper uses voice recognition and artifi-
tailed description and pictures of each menu item, cial intelligence to communicate with customers.
place an order, play games while waiting for the It is also equipped with a special app developed
order to be cooked, and pay the bill at the end by Pizza Hut and MasterCard that allows Pepper
of the dining experience. Additionally, restaurant not only to create orders and send them to the
orders may be taken by robots (Curtis, 2016). For restaurant kitchen, but also to accept payments.

Figure 2 | Automated menu ordering (Olive Garden Restaurant, Kissimmee, Florida, USA)

Source: photo credit by Stanislav Ivanov

Restaurants have also adopted automated food the order is passed to the kitchen, and once re-
delivery methods that include conveyor restaurants ady food containers slide down the tracks right
(Ngai, Suk, & Lo, 2008) and roller-coaster restau- to the customer’s table. The restaurant industry
rants (Blinder, 2014). Conveyor restaurants uti- has already witnessed some examples of complete
lize food delivery systems that may be based on a front-of-the-house automation (Peterson, 2016).
mechanical conveyor belt (see Figure 3), a water- A quinoa-themed “Eatsa” restaurant eliminated
based system, or magnetic movement to bring human waiters and cashiers, and provided custo-
dishes to customer tables. Roller-coaster restau- mers with tablets to place their orders and submit
rants received their name for a unique mechanism payments. Once ready, the order appears in the
of food delivery to the dining tables that looks like glass cubby with the customer’s name on it.
roller-coaster tracks. The restaurant uses an auto-
mated process of food ordering on a touch screen,
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Figure 3 | Mechanical conveyor restaurant (Yo! Sushi, Sarasota, Florida, USA)

Source: photo credit by Katerina Berezina

Automation has touched not only the food deli- the meals will be cooked by robotic chefs, and
very process, but the cooking process as well. The delivered to customers using automation techno-
development of 3D printing technology gave birth logies (e.g., conveyors, roller-coasters, or other
to 3D printing of food (Prisco, 2014). 3D prin- methods). However, restaurants that are not re-
ters produce edible dishes from food “ink” cartrid- ady for complete automation may find benefits in
ges that contain mashed ingredients. Such prin- using technology in certain areas, such as taking
ters apply thin layers of pureed ingredients to build orders, assisting with cooking, washing dishes, or
dishes programmed in a digital model. This tech- accepting payments.
nology allows not only to create intricate designs,
but also to customize nutritional value of meals ba-
sed on the needs of the consumer (Botero-Murphy, 3.3. Theme and amusement parks
2016). Beyond 3D printing some dishes are now
cooked by robots. For example, robot chefs can There is substantial automation in theme and
prepare sushi (Sushirobo, 2016), noodles (Elkins, amusement parks and has been such automation
2015), sausage (Filloon, 2016), burgers (Momen- for quite some time. Since much of what is offered
tum Machines, 2016), mixed drinks (Sloan, 2014), at theme and amusement parks is not so distinct
and coffee (Fowler, 2017). from other hospitality-related industries, much of
Available technologies provide numerous op- the automation in related industries has already
portunities for full service automation. System ad- taken place. As with much of travel and tourism,
vancement and integration may lead to the cre- tickets can be purchased either on line or with the
ation of fully automated restaurants, similar to a help of kiosks set up in major parks. Figure 4 below
fully automated hotel Henn-na. Complete auto- illustrates automation of tickets at Walt Disney’s
mation of a restaurant may include front-of-the- park in Orlando, Florida. This form of automation
house and back-of-the-house automation, where is similar to the form of automation that is seen
customers will be able to place orders through in bus and rail stations. However, there are other
self-service technologies or with a robot server, forms of robotic usage also used in such destinati-
ons.
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Figure 4 | Automated ticket counter (Walt Disney Parks, Orlando, Florida, USA)

Source: photo credit by Stanislav Ivanov

While robots have been used for some time in aquarium featuring robotic replications of jellyfish,
entertainment, there are improvements and more fish, and lobster. There are other features at the
interactive robots that either are being developed planned theme park, including exhibitions showing
or have been developed. For those of us who visi- how robots will be utilized in service to humans
ted Walt Disney’s Park in Orlando, Florida during and industry. Not to be outdone, another theme
the 1970’s, there was an attraction, the Hall of park Huis Ten Bosch is open in Japan in which
Presidents in which visitors were treated to very service robots are used extensively, although the
clunky looking machines that were reasonable pro- theme of the park has nothing to do with robots
xies for former US presidents. The show has been (Huffington Post, 2016). However, visitors likely
a major part of the attractions since 1971 (Blitz, find it amusing that all the cooking and serving in
2016). This type of entertainment was and still is the restaurants will be done by robots, as are many
part of standard fare for theme/amusement parks. of the other service jobs. Since opening with a hu-
Indeed, Disney continues to invest in and develop man workforce of 30, robots have been so effective
robots (Hackett, 2015). But it would seem than that more than half of the human jobs have been
much of the entertainment could be done cheaper eliminated (Niinuma, 2016).
and easier with holograms.
However, the more advanced robotic technolo-
gies promise much more interactive and interesting 3.4. Meetings and events
entertainment opportunities. In Asia, in recent ye-
ars, two major theme parks have been planned that
The meetings and events industry has adopted
will utilize a great deal of robot technologies. Ro-
much of what hotels and restaurants have institu-
bot Land has been planned in South Korea and
ted, automating a great deal of services, since food
its set to make the robot the centrepiece of its
service and customer service are intricately linked
theme (Huffington Post, 2014). The theme park
also with the meetings and events industry. For
was planned to open in 2016, but despite that, the
example, kiosks and information booths of various
intention is to have some critical elements that
types are already in use in the event industry and
will make robots a central figure in the entertain-
apps are widely used to bolster traditional signage
ment provided, including a completely robotic fish
used at major events. However, there are several
1510 | RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | IVANOV et al.

service applications that technologies are assisting tation costs, mobile telepresence will likely be a
in becoming easier and more practical. For exam- future way in which people can attend meetings
ple, over 150 guests at the OppiKoppi music fes- and events. The idea is that people will be able to
tival in South Africa received cold beer via drone use robots as a physical presence at meetings and
(Daily News 2013), giving the recipients the conve- events. MantaroBots created the TeleMe using an
nience of delivery while cutting down on the labor Apple device or Android tablet attached to a mo-
cost of delivery. But this is just the delivery end of bile base and Anybots’ QB robot has a camera,
what is another aspect of the automation of such screen, and is mobile (Sorrells, 2013). This tech-
as baristas and bartending, as the Makr Shakr il- nology is probably the most revolutionary for the
lustrates as a bartending robot (Mack, 2013). industry, as it may mean that many future mee-
Ford Motor Company has used Hank, a remote tings and events are remote, hence people will have
controlled robot to entertain people at trade shows interactive experiences while not being physically
(Sorrells, 2013). While the movements and lan- present at the event.
guage of the robot are remotely controlled by a
human, it is an amusement that aids Ford in at-
tracting and entertaining people at trade shows. It 3.5. Airports
may not take long before a more interactive and
intelligent machine is designed to interact and en- Automation plays an important role in airports’
tertain participants at events and meetings. efforts to ease traveller experience, speed up ser-
There is also a movement towards more inte- vice, increase efficiency, and ensure security. Air-
ractive technologies in which holograms of service ports integrated self-service check-in kiosks that
providers will lure people to booths. “Jenny,” a allow customers to check in for a flight and print
3M hologram was used at Southwest Interactive their boarding passes (Future Travel Experience,
to sense when people were passing, luring them to 2013) and check in luggage (Nicas & Michaels,
the booth and pointing them to an IPad displayed 2012) without employee assistance. The luggage
in front of her (Briodagh 2013). While it was not would then travel on automated conveyor belts to
a full interactive booth attendant, it did fool many reach the sorting facility and the right plane (Du-
in attendance that it was a real human. Such a ell, 2014). Moreover, travellers are also able to
presence is a likely harbinger to a fully interactive use a mobile boarding pass on their smart phone
hologram that will be able to supply information devices for their journey through the airport, and
via oral communication and not merely be able to also board the plane via self-service gates (Nicas
lure people to a particular booth and offer infor- & Michaels, 2012).
mation via an IPad. As in many other sectors, robots are being em-
Another critical interactive and revolutionary ployed in airports around the world. A bag-drop
technology is the advent of mobile telepresence. robot has been tested in Geneva international air-
While telepresence at events and meetings has port (Future Travel Experience, 2016a). This ro-
been available for some time, since telephones have bot meets customers outside of the airport, scans
enabled those who are far away to participate, the boarding pass, prints out luggage tags, and
there has been a rapid advancement in terms of stores the luggage in a special compartment. The
allowing people to attend meetings and have more robot can take up to two suitcases and deliver them
interactive experiences because of the evolution of to the luggage area inside of the airport, there-
technologies. While Skype and online meetings fore, allowing the traveler to avoid lines and pro-
have enabled meetings to avoid many transpor- ceed directly to the security area. Airports have
 RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | 1511

also recruited customer service robots that can for lower insurance fees, which will decrease car
answer traveler questions, make announcements, rental companies’ costs and improve their profita-
guide passengers to their gates (Future Travel Ex- bility. Moreover, car rental companies would serve
perience, 2016b; Lee, 2017), and even entertain as catalysts for the massive adoption of self-driving
travelers by signing songs and taking pictures with cars. Considering the massive fleets that car rental
them (Owen, 2016). Robots may also be found in companies boast, switching to self-driving cars will
airports performing cleaning tasks (Lee, 2017) and mean huge investments but will create the market
running delivery errands (Szondy, 2017). With all for the technology and allow economies of scale
areas of airport operations being affected by auto- to be realised by the car manufacturers, leading to
mation and robotic technologies, potentially future lower prices for self-driving cars and their further
airports may be entirely automated allowing cus- adoption by car rental companies and other busi-
tomers to go through the entire airport experience ness and final customers.
without interacting with human employees.

3.7. Travel agencies and tourist information

3.6. Car rental centres

Service automation in car rental companies is Travel agencies and tourist information centres
currently quite limited. Customers of Zipcar, for have quite limited opportunities for the adoption
example, (un)lock the car with a card or app of self-service / service automation technologies
(http://www.zipcar.com/how). Robots have not and robotics in their offices compared to other
been adopted yet, but the first self-driving cars tourist companies. Currently, they have adop-
have already hit the streets and are expected to ted kiosks and displays that provide information
become ‘the new normal’ on the car market in about destinations, tourist resources, tour packa-
the next 5-10 years. Therefore, it is reasonable ges and offers. However, the internet limits the
to expect that robots will be used by car rental necessity for investment in offline self-service te-
companies in the form of self-driving cars (see also chnologies by travel agencies and tourist informa-
Tussyadiah, Zach, & Wang (2017) for a discussion tion centres because customers can always check
on self-driving taxis). The self-driving cars will their websites and book online. Therefore, service
have three major advantages for car rental com- automation technologies have mostly supporting
panies over traditional vehicles. First, self-driving rather than primary role in the operations of tra-
cars eliminate the need of a driving licence for the vel agencies and tourist information centres. On
customer. Hence, the potential car rental market the other hand, robots could be adopted as sa-
can expand to include also people without a driving les agents and robot guides. Currently, robots
licence. Second, using a self-driving car does not are not used in travel agencies, while audio gui-
depend on the current physical and mental state of des with recorded commentary have been used for
the driver. Thus, a self-driving car can be used by decades during sightseeing tours. However, au-
people who have consumed certain amounts of al- dio guides provide unidirectional communication
cohol, something that is not allowed by the traffic and no interactivity, while robot guides could be
regulations in most countries in the world. Third, able to provide more detailed information and pro-
in relation to the second advantage, if the proba- vide bidirectional communication with the tourist.
bility of accidents of self-driving cars is lower com- Furthermore, it is possible that the digital assis-
pared to traditional cars, this would be a ground tant of a customer (e.g. Alexa) is connected to a
1512 | RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | IVANOV et al.

website of a travel agency and help the customer about the exhibits or the premises), while an out-
with destination recommendation, itinerary plan- door robot would need to deal with more diverse
ning, booking of flights, accommodation and other human-robot interactions. Third, the indoor robot
tourist services, keep track of customer’s calen- is protected from the influences of weather, unlike
dar and remind/inform about key events/activities its outdoor counterpart. Therefore, although the
(e.g. (changes in) flight schedules, travel tips, visa robot guides in museums/ galleries and robot gui-
regulations, etc.). In this way, the robot is located des on tours might be technically identical, we ex-
in the home of a customer rather than in an office pect that they would be adopted much earlier in
of a travel agency, but nonetheless it will help the museums/galleries, rather than as guides on tours.
agency sell its products. Considering the large physical space museums and
galleries have, means that they could use robots
for cleaning the floors, which is not economically
3.8. Museums and art galleries feasible for travel agencies and tourist information
centres due to their much smaller offices.
Similar to tourist information centres, mu-
seums and galleries have long adopted kiosks,
displays and audio guides to provide information
about the exhibits (Lee, 2016). Mobile apps and 4. Conclusions
QR codes also make their way into the museums
and galleries, allowing the visitors to receive the This paper evaluated the current and poten-
information about the exhibits on their smart pho- tial adoption of service automation and robots by
nes, while augmented reality through smart glasses travel, tourism and hospitality companies. While
provide unique visitor experience (tom Dieck, Jung some of the ideas for possible application of ro-
& Han, 2016). Although robots have been recently bots discussed in the paper may not materialise in
used as guides in Tokyo science museum (Deme- the next 5-10 years, the advances in robotics and
triou, (2014) and in a laboratory (Boboc, Horaţiu artificial intelligence, increased robot capabilities
& Talabă, 2014), they are far away from regular coupled with decreased purchase and maintenance
adoption in museums and galleries. They can be costs will make robots a viable alternative to hu-
used in a museum/gallery to provide information man employees in travel, tourism and hospitality
about the exhibits, answering questions, directing companies. Of course, not all service processes
visitors to the exhibition halls, toilets or other areas can and have to be automated or performed by
of the museum/gallery. From a technical point of robots – at the end of the day it is the economic
view, a robot guide in a museum/gallery would be efficiency, customer experience, company’s com-
easier to develop compared to an outdoor robot petitiveness and other factors that will determine
guide on tours, because of their different usage whether to automate and robotise the service de-
settings. First, a robot guide in a museum has livery process.
confined space for movement which can be easily One consideration that should be taken is the
mapped in its entirety to facilitate robot movement value of the first mover advantage in the develop-
within the building, while this is not the case for ment of robotic technologies. Although the no-
outdoor robot guides on tours. Second, a robot velty of using new robotic technologies may at-
guide in a museum/gallery faces relatively limited tract a great deal of attention and consumers, it
number of human-robot interaction situations (ne- is the successive waves of robotic innovations that
arly exclusively related to provision of information will make robotic interactions more pleasant and
 RT&D | n.o 27/28 | 2017 | 1513

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