Spencer running in a terminal in Schiphol Airport. KLM in partnership with many, has been developing an autonomous robot, Spencer, to guide lost passengers to their travel gates. They ran their first trial in December 2015, so it’s only a matter of time before Spencer may run fully with real passengers. (via KLM & Spencer project)
Passengers travelling to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport this December may have caught a glimpse of the robot making headlines this month. KLM airlines, in partnership many universities, BlueBotics, the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the European Commission, and more have developed Spencer as one of the first robot guides for airport passengers. Spencer, seen in the photo above, has been in development for over two years but he was on a week trial before the holiday season.
They have not yet released how successful, or unsuccessful, this trail was but it seems that the trail was simply to collect data which will help them navigate Spencer better in future. While they have been focusing on making Spencer emotionally intelligent, this capability wasn’t trialed with airport customers. Their main focus is to ensure that Spencer doesn’t crash into luggage carts, or unsuspecting humans while trying to guide passengers to their planes.
While a robot guide may seem like an unnecessary endeavor for airport-goers, the Schiphol Airport is notorious for its confusing, labyrinth-like construction and KLM has already had many issues with passengers missing flights because they got lost. Hence, they have donated a lot of capital into this project in the hopes that Spencer can guide lost passengers to their correct gates. Of course, I also wonder if the cost of just a project is much more than paying actual humans to do this job…
Spencer uses a map and laser range-finding sensors in his eyes to navigate around the airport. He is also programmed to sidestep to allow groups of passengers to pass; and hopefully he will be able to sidestep obstacles. They hope that they can allow Spencer to recognize emotions and respond accordingly to the many spontaneous situations which may arise with flustered passengers who are lost and need to get to their gate in time (I imagine a lot of hilarious human-robot interactions can stem from this situation).
For now, however, it seems like it will be a while yet before a legion of Spencers are released into the public. But if this futuristic project proves successful in the coming years, we all may be forced to interact with a robot workforce. For now, KLM has implemented a far less fantastical technology to navigate its customers to their gates: an app.
For customers with a smartphone, Bluetooth capability, and an internet connection, the KLM app will navigate them to their terminal using a map and specific directions (like Google map for airports). They app uses beacons placed along the airport and in KLM lounges and gates to determine the user’s location and walking distance from their destination.
Air France-KLM has expressed that they believe these navigational technologies are especially important for transfer flights; a situation which I can personal confirm is stressful. So, while we are waiting for our robot guides and waiters to come, download an app.
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