Embracing the future at Munich International Airport
Should you be on your way to Munich by plane and end up in Terminal 2, you will meet Lufthansa’s and Munich Airport’s new attraction: Josie Pepper!
Who is Josie Pepper?
Josie Pepper speaks English and will “await passengers at the top of the ramp leading to the shuttle connecting the main terminal to the satellite building…” Nothing groundbreaking really about this news…
BUT, Josie Pepper is not your regular airport ground attendant. ‘She’ looks in fact like ‘she’ could be R2D2’s girlfriend. The innovative news about her is that ‘she’ is a humanoid robot about 42 inches tall. While no novelty in Japan and other countries, Josie represents the very first test of a humanoid robot equipped with artificial intelligence at a German airport!
Artificial Intelligence in a Testing Phase
When Josie speaks, ‘she’ does not just deliver pre-defined texts. The humanoid robot has the ability to learn and so it answers each question individually.
Josie Pepper’s “brain” contains a high-performance processor with a WLAN internet access. This creates a connection to a cloud service where speech is processed, interpreted and linked to the airport data. Just like a “real” brain, the system becomes steadily better at combining questions with the relevant information to provide more precise replies. (Deutsche Lufthansa AG)
Will we see more of Josie’s kind moving about the Munich Airport in the future? This seems to be up to the passengers. Munich Airport and Deutsche Lufthansa are testing how passengers react to having Josie around. So, be welcoming to Josie Pepper and treat her kindly!
Want to find out more about Josie Pepper and the technic behind ‘her’? Check out this link here.
Images and Information: ©Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Munich Airport
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