Takeover: A second robot-run hotel to open in Japan
The first automated, "weird" hotel opened in Nagasaki last year. This second one, in Tokyo, will rely even less on humans.
If human interaction isn't what you want from your hotel stay, this may be the perfect place for you.
Known as the Henn na -- "weird" -- Hotel, the first one opened to the general public in July 2015 in Nagasaki. It is almost entirely staffed by robots. The company behind it is now set to open a second location at the Tokyo Disney Resort in March, Asahi reported.
A hit on sites like Trip Advisor, the hotel has some of the world's oddest front-desk staff in the form of two animatronic velociraptors, along with a creepily human-looking , all of which speak multiple languages. In addition to the check-in assistants, automated bag-carrying bellhops take luggage to your room, while a heavy duty servo-arm deals with the cloakroom.
While the hotel itself may be intentionally gimmicky, there is some legit advanced technology at play here, such as keyless face-recognition access to each room.
Tokyo Disney Resort is just the tip of the iceberg, with Osaka and Aichi set to get their own Henn na Hotel before the end of 2017.
The new hotel will offer 100 rooms. The original location in Nagasaki has had 20 human staff working to assist the robots. The new location is expected to reduce the overall workforce to just six meatbags.