Proof-of-concept studies with humanoid robots for smart building services

Humanoid robots are gaining growing interest and their technologies are developing all the time and reaching next levels of performance. Presently there are already some commercial solutions available that can be used as platforms for proof of concept studied for understanding further the actual possibilities and limits of those solutions. The research behind this paper is focusing on this kind of trials and testing where potential solutions for new kind of building facility services are first portrayed, and, after that the humanoid robot solution is programmed and tested in live environment. Examples of possible such applications are welcome center receptionist, guide for finding people and places, instructor for using special devices and entertainer. This paper provides a synthesis of results of two studies where humanoid robot Pepper was programmed and tested for enhancing social experience of visitors in built properties. The gained research results provide basis for understanding the human - social robot interaction regarding smart building services. The results are used for designing the next stage experiments with humanoid robots for building facility services.