The future is now.
South Korean carmaker Hyundai has unveiled DAL-e, an automated and intelligent robot capable of welcoming and advising the brand’s customers. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, this kind of customer service robot could help mitigate risk in situations requiring interaction.
Hyundai considers that this robot, named DAL-e (for “Drive you, Assist you, Link with you-experience”), could become a pioneer in the history of automated customer service.
The robot is 1.16 metres tall, weighs 80 kg and has four omnidirectional wheels. It can therefore accompany customers to a given car model. Facial recognition lets DAL-e identify specific people, and it has been specially designed to understand natural language, in order to respond to all kinds of requests. Artificial intelligence helps the robot talk with smooth dialog while offering personalised responses about the brand’s products and services. As well as communicating with the robot by voice, users can also interact with DAL-e via a touchscreen.
Plus, if a customer enters a showroom without wearing a face mask, the robot can automatically recognise this and advise the customer to wear one. It could potentially welcome customers and invite people to wait if the showroom is at capacity with the maximum number of people permitted.
Initially, the idea is to respond to the constraints of the public health crisis and provide a solution that is effective while posing minimal risk to Hyundai customers.
For the moment, Hyundai has announced the launch of a pilot operation in one of its showrooms in Seoul, in the aim of optimising the experience before putting it to use in other Hyundai and Kia showrooms, or in other fields requiring everyday interactions. Find out more here.
(All images: Hyundai)