Artificial Intelligence Comes to the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

By Paul Joseph

The arrival of AI robots into our everyday lives is now considered by many to be an inevitability, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel in La Vegas has already made their own steps into the future.

Given the quirky name “Pepper”, the hotel is now home to a humanoid robot, who has been given the prestigious job title of Technical Ambassador.

In practical terms, this means that she greet guests from her position in the Sky Lobby located on the hotel’s 23rd floor. Here, her large expressive eyes and lifelike movements and gestures conceal a computerised interior which enables her to discern a guest’s gender, approximate age and mood, providing personalised communication by detecting facial, body and voice cues.

Among Pepper’s skill is the ability to provide answers to property-specific questions, give directions, tell stories, dance and even pose for a selfie.

“I am delighted to welcome Pepper to the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas team. Luxury is all about choice. Pepper will provide our guests with the option to receive hotel assistance and information in an exciting and innovative way,” says General Manager, Donald Bowman.

“Not only can Pepper handle information requests, but will also serve as a source of entertainment that we hope will provide an enjoyable element of surprise for guests of all ages.”

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was formed in 1985 as part of a merger between two luxury Asian Hotels: The Mandarin in Hong Kong and The Oriental in Bangkok.

Expand
By Paul Joseph