Relay the Robot: Providing Room Service In a Hotel Near You

By B.J. Murphy

At your own beckoning call, a robot could very well be providing you room service in a hotel near you. Not in the future; today! Dubbed Relay, this room-service robot was manufactured by robotics company Savioke. It’s been employed by 12 different hotels within the United States and has cataloged around 11,000 deliveries so far, totaling at 1860 miles.

Whatever you desire, Relay will deliver it to you. Need extra toothpaste or shampoo? Done. Maybe some coffee or a beer? No problem. And considering Savioke’s recent funding of $15 million, these robot butlers could be making their way to several more hotels in the coming year or so.

Equipped with Wi-Fi and 3D cameras for navigation, whenever a guest calls for room service, the staff merely collects the items needed, loads them onto Relay, and it’s off. As soon as it punches in your room number, the robot will summon an elevator wirelessly and navigate its way throughout the hotel. Once it reaches your room, it’ll call your phone and inform you that it’s arrived. From there, it’ll return back to its charging dock, ready for another delivery.

Curious about the company’s reasons for dedicating its resources in developing Relay, Serious Wonder spoke with Savioke’s CEO Steve Cousins, stating:

“All of us at Savioke are passionate about the idea of robots helping people. When we first looked at bringing our robot to market, the hospitality industry struck us as an ideal industry. Front desk personnel can always use an extra set of hands (or wheels, as the case may be), and guests are absolutely delighted by having a robot deliver items to their rooms. Our Relay robot has been working alongside people at some of our hotels for over 1.5 years. Perhaps the biggest implication is how quickly people become used to and comfortable working side by side with robots.”

– Steve Cousins, CEO of Savioke

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

Room service robots are merely the beginning of this robotics revolution. Soon they’ll make their way out of the hotels and will be employed within your very own home. From cleaning, to garbage disposal, to cooking your food, robots will be there for you every step of the way. As they become more advanced, with an intelligence level similar to your average human, Relay-esque robots will be replaced by those similar to Andrew from Bicentennial Man or Sonny from I, Robot. They’ll have interactive, complex conversations with you. You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll fall in love. And who knows, someday there might not even be a difference between robots and humans.

Photo Credit: Savioke

February 11, 2016 By B.J. Murphy

About the author

B.J. Murphy is the Editor and Social Media Manager of Serious Wonder. He is a futurist, philosopher, activist, author and poet. B.J. is an Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and an Ambassador for the robotics company Humai.