A stay at the forthcoming Henn-na Hotel of Japan’s Huis Ten Bosch amusement park is going to feel like a stroll down the aisles of the Consumer Electronics Show. Charming, multi-lingual robots called Actroids (presumably a portmanteau of “actress” and “android” — not to be confused with an irritating medical condition) will check you in at the front desk. A giant robotic arm will be the porter that handles your luggage. You’ll gain entry to your room via facial recognition technology, you’ll order room service via tablet, and your body heat will passively act as a thermostat because radiation panels will read your temperature and set your room accordingly. At the end of the day, the robotic housekeeping staff will tidy up after you.
Henn-na fulfills one Japanese finance guy’s prediction that robots and foreigners will push the nation’s economy forward. This super-efficient staff is part of the hotel’s proclaimed “Commitment to evolution” (in Japanese, “Henn” means “change,” but also “strange”), and keep the prices low. Rooms go for about $60 a night depending on availability, thanks to the reduced payroll costs. Ten actual humans are slated to work at the hotel, although management hopes that “robots will eventually run 90% of the property,” according to the CNN report.
Today, they might run 90 percent of the property. Then tomorrow, the world? Bum bum bummm…
Here, Keanu Reeves wakes up in a different robot hotel. You can check out, but you can never leave.
Henn-na’s first 72 rooms open on July 17, with 72 more to come in 2016.
Huis Ten Bosch via CNN