Starwood Hotels will test its first robotic butler, or Botlr, that will be used for its Aloft brand.
The robot, named A.L.O. (pronounced "el-oh"), is just under 3 feet tall, wears a vinyl-collared butler uniform, and is designed to grant a range of requests made by guests, according to CNBC.
The official launch of the robot's pilot program is set to take place on Aug. 20th at the Aloft in Cupertino, Calif. If the program is successful, A.L.O. will be used in almost 100 different Aloft properties.
A.L.O. has proven to have a variety of capabilities, such as using its Wi-Fi connection to call for elevators, traveling through corridors, moving at a walking pace, and avoiding running into human guests, SlashGear reported. The Botlr features a top-loaded bin for carrying requested items. The bin has a capacity of 2 cubic feet and opens automatically when the robot reaches its destination.
A.L.O. is topped with a touchscreen for communication, instead of asking for tips, the robot asks guests to give them a star rating out of five.
A study done at the University of Oxford claims that 47 percent of Americans are at risk of becoming unemployed after being replaced by computers. However, Starwood says these robots are not designed to take anyone's job, but to free them from small tasks so they have more time to work with customers face-to-face, CNBC reported.
"It is certainly not replacing our staff but it is augmenting our ability to service our customers," said Brian McGuinness, senior vice president of Aloft, who envisions each Aloft hotel having one or two Botlrs.
A.L.O. was created by Savioke, a startup based in Sunnyvale, Calif. that received $2 million in funding from Google Ventures and other investors in April.
"There are all these places, hotels, elder care facilities, hospitals that have a few hundred robots maybe but no significant numbers and we think that's just a huge opportunity," said Steve Cousins, CEO of Savioke.
The pilot is being funded by Starwood Hotels, which has made an exclusive deal with Savioke that will last through the end of 2014, CNBC reported. While the cost of A.L.O. was not revealed, Cousins said the robots will be made more affordable as certain supply costs decrease. He added that the startup will lease the robots and then charge a service fee for them.
"It's going to come in at a few thousand dollars," Cousins said.
