Lowe’s is set to unleash a retail-ready, multilingual robot. The project is designed to help shoppers navigate stores quickly and easily.
“People want to come in and find exactly where they want to go,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “And they want to have a conversation instead of trying to find a map.”
Customers can talk to the robot, OSHbot, like they to would speak to a typical sales associate, and it recognizes and responds in multiple languages. It’s equipped with a screen that shoppers move through “Minority Report-style” — it recognizes hand gestures made in front of the screen and can be used as a typical touch screen as well. OSHbot is also mobile and will roll up to customers to greet and escort them through the aisles.