The English-speaking robot will be able to verbally provide information to travellers including directions to their gate, a restaurant or a shop.
For the next few weeks, Josie Pepper will be waiting at the top of the ramp leading to the shuttle connecting the main terminal to the satellite building, to welcome travellers to the non-public area of Terminal 2.
This is the first test of a humanoid robot equipped with artificial intelligence at a German airport. The test phase will be used to assess whether Josie is accepted by passengers.
Josie Pepper’s "brain" contains a high-performance processor with WLAN internet access. This connects to a cloud service where speech is processed, interpreted and linked to the airport data. When the robot type speaks, it does not just deliver pre-defined texts but answers each question individually. Just like a real brain, the system steadily improves at combining questions with the relevant information to provide more precise replies – effectively, Pepper has the ability to learn.
IBM Watson Internet of Things’ cloud-based, artificial intelligence technologies are behind Josie’s capabilities, while French company SoftBank Robotics developed her physical form. The robot was named "Josie" by the staff of Munich airport and Lufthansa when she arrived at the airport.
