Meet the Friendly Neighborhood Service Bot: Rice
Looking like a white cuboid, this robotic buddy shares similarities with R2D2 from Star Wars, but with big, expressive eyes akin to Pixar's Wall-E. The adorable robot assists customers at HFT Life-Cafés by serving drinks from a compartment in its "head," which can be opened with a PIN code sent from a customer's phone.
Rice's career isn't confined to Cafés, though. The compact robot provides assorted services at events in Hong Kong and Japan, where it once served staff at a Dorsett Hotel with snacks and even made a TV appearance in the kantonese drama "Holy Communion."
Rice is equipped with light sensors, depth cameras, and ultrasound sensors which help it to navigate complex and bustling environments, like hotels and shopping centers. According to Viktor Lee, founder and CEO of Rice Robotics, Rice is "your friendly neighbourhood robot," aiming to help the hospitality industry cope with an aging population and adhere to stricter hygiene protocols post-pandemic.
Despite increased concerns about contact since COVID-19, Li, a Rice Robotics founder, believes that the use of delivery robots will see continuous growth in the next five to ten years.
Pandemic-Era Service Bots
Rice Robotics was founded in 2019 by Lee, whose background is in logistics. With the aim of solving the "last-mile delivery" challenge, the team developed Rice, the first of three robots, with support from the Cyberport Incubation Program. The robot can handle transporting goods in various industries, including healthcare, retail, logistics, and hospitality.
The pandemic sparked new demand for service robots, with the market growing by 12% in 2020 according to the International Federation of Robotics. Rice's new role as a quarantine hotel attendant saw her busy long hours disinfecting rooms and supervising guests.
Dorsett Wan Chai introduced the use of Rice-Roboters in June 2021, with General Manager Anita Chan praising the service. She believed it enabled guest service standards to be maintained while also following social distancing rules and anti-epidemic measures.
Lee's team developed a second robot called Jasmine, replacing Rice's incubation room with a bottle of disinfectant spray and two nozzles on her head, in just eight weeks. Jasmine's new personality suited indoor spaces like shopping centers, conferences, and airports with a more serious demeanor.
Thirdly, the team introduced Portal, a larger robot capable of patrolling public spaces and providing navigation services to visitors of airports, conference centers, and hospitals.
Friendly Facilitator
While industrial robots are widely used in automotive, manufacturing, and electronics industries, service robots in the hospitality sector have primarily been utilized for novel purposes. However, Kaye Chon of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University notes that the pandemic has changed this, with many in the hospitality industry experiencing massive worker exodus due to travel bans and social restrictions.
Chon views the use of robots as an extension of the "digital transformation" in the hotel industry, blending concerns around hygiene with the rising acceptance of intelligent technology by younger customers. While Chon acknowledges that technology has some hurdles to overcome, including high production costs, a lack of qualified programmers, and the need for space adaptations, she believes these obstacles are surmountable with the right resources and education.
Rice Robotics offers fleet management software for clients and assists with infrastructure modifications, such as programming robots and elevators for seamless system communication. The startup also offers a monthly subscription service for its robots at 800 USD per unit, including technology maintenance and on-site support.
Despite the benefits of robots in minimizing human contact, Chon highlights the need for continued human disinfection between robot usage.
While robots may help manage simple, repetitive tasks in budget or mid-range hotels, Chon notes that the technology is still a long way from reproducing the "personal touch" that luxurious hotels market.
Swift Growth
However, Rice Robotics is not the only player in the service robotics market. Denmark's UVD Robots provides Roboter-Butler for Yotel's hotel in Boston, while US-based Relay Robotics (formerly Savioke) develops delivery robots for hotels since 2013. Lee admits that Rice's endearing facial features contribute to its appeal but points out that a study found that human-like features improve human-robot affinity, making Rice's aesthetics an essential factor for hotel brands seeking to leave a positive impression on their customers.
During the pandemic, Rice Robotics expanded from a three-member team to a 26-person team. With its headquarters in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, it also opened a branch in Japan to better manage its increasing Japanese customer base. Lee believes that robots will play a crucial role in supporting Japan's retail and hospitality sectors, as the population rapidly ages.
Furthermore, Lee envisions robots becoming more commonplace in homes in the future. In a recent project for the Japanese postal service, multiple Rice machines were deployed in a residential building to simplify the delivery of packages directly to residents' doorsteps.
In Conclusion
Rice Robotics' Rice has emerged as a significant player in the emerging market of service robots, addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic. Its charming appearance, disinfection capabilities, and seamless integration with existing systems have made it an attractive solution for the hospitality industry. With continuous innovation and a dedicated focus on building a community-driven ecosystem, Rice AI aims to redefine robotics and revolutionize the service robotics market.
