Lets examine the evidence.
ASIMO the Japanese Humanoid.
Asimo is a humanoid, developed by Honda Motor Co Ltd and currently has employment as a receptionist at their office in Honda Wako Building north of Tokyo. Using sensors, Asimo can recognise it's surroundings and interact with people, provide information and perform services, such as delivering and receiving items. Asimo is able to run and maintain its balance and control up to 6km/hour, and walk in step with other people whilst holding hands.
(So I guess if you wanted to employ a receptionist who was an expert in balancing, running, and of course the essential holding handed, then Asimo would be the one.)
Valerie and Marion “Tank” LeFleur employed as receptionists at Carnegie Mellon University
A university in Pittsburgh USA have spent several years developing a robot that has personality and social skills. A joint project between the computer science and drama departments at Carnegie Mellon University, they have so far produced two models: initially Valerie had a receptionist job at the Computer Science Hall, greeting visitors and talking about the weather. (And being from the drama dept you just know she could deliver a line – ‘He’s in a meeting; I’ve just spoken to the kitchen and your refreshments are on their way; No we never over-book the hotel’s rooms’)
Last year, Valerie was replaced with a male counterpart, ‘Tank’. Like Valerie, Tank is a face on a computer screen, and visitors need to communicate via a keyboard, but Carnegie Mellon drama department have been working on Tank to make him less boring (cut out the weather chat for a start) Tank has two failed careers under his belt, one with NASA and another with the CIA, meaning he is now fairly negative about himself; he has mood swings and emotional outbursts depending on the questions he is asked in conjunction with what is happening in his life at the moment. Scientists believe that if robots are ever going to be able to take over reception duties, they will need to be able to respond to human emotions.
 Tank works as a receptionist
Tank is collecting information about how humans interact with robots, and his boss is hoping people will feel compassion for the blue Frankenstein face on the screen and spend time trying to cheer him up. So far thousands of interactions are being analyzed every month, and it’s clear most humans are fascinated by Tank’s life. Not perhaps something employers will expect their clients to have to deal with at reception.
The science department are working on the upgrades that will mean Tank recognises people he’s talked to before and can initiate conversations by himself.
However, although both Valerie and Tank have been popular members of staff at the University, it seems likely that the positive reactions come from the novelty factor rather than the efficiency and speed of multi tasking and coping under pressure.
Robot Inkha who has a job as Head Receptionists at King’s College
Not to be left behind, the UK too has it’s very own version of a robot receptionist. Developed at King’s College, London, ‘Inkha’ is a robotic head, who has a personality based on programmed thought processes relating to images she sees via cameras in her eyes. She is capable of being charming, irritable or obnoxious and her emotional responses include fright (“So you’re telling me I’ve sent the party of 16 investment bankers to the auditorium holding the anti-capitalist demo?”) nonchalance (“Oh well, they were really rude to me anyway.”) and intrigue (“I wonder if I’ll still have my job tomorrow.”). Her creation was a joint effort between the engineering and art departments, with the intention of creating a robot that can interact autonomously. Hopes for her future employment are mounting and she currently has the receptionist job at King’s College from 9 – 5 Monday to Friday.
Inkha head receptionist at Kings College
Hello Kitty was developed in Japan
Back to Japan where technology is storming ahead, perhaps partly due to their well-known love of novelty and fun, and partly due to a low birth rate meaning the need for an alternative work force. A recruitment agency called PeopleStaff are offering Hello Kitty robot receptionists to companies for around 450 dollars a month, a big saving on human salaries. The robot comes with 20,000 conversation patterns as well as riddles and songs and can recognise up to 10 previously seen faces. Hello Kitty is capable of asking for names, liaising with hosts and giving directions. What it can’t do is answer the phone, reserve rooms, or expect to be taken too seriously.
Find out more at: http://www.business-design.co.jp/en/index.html
 Hello Kitty
Anna the virtual concierge – expert in hospitality.
Over five years ago, a hotel receptionist employed at Westin hotels in Silicon Valley, managed to turn herself into a ‘virtual receptionist’ at the cost of 50,000 dollars to her employers in order that she might work from home. An exceptional story.
Anna Morris, mother of two, clearly became indispensable in her position as receptionist; so when the time came for her to take maternity leave, Westin agreed to her idea of continuing her employment…..120 km away.
The technology that brought "Virtual Anna" to the Westin was pretty simple, using a camera and a microphone in the hotel and one in a bedroom of Anna’s house, both parties could see and hear each other. The reception area in the hotel contained a giant TV screen, showing only Anna’s head and shoulders, which meant she could wear her slippers to work!
 
Anna, the virtual concierge.
The driving force behind the new way of working, was a life of leaving for her receptionist/ concierge job at around 5am in order to battle with traffic over the long journey, and the impending arrival of a new baby. But she had to convince her boss with a detailed plan. His response was: "This is Silicon Valley. It's the future and we have to embrace it, especially when it comes from the grassroots."
But it’s not simply a question of replacing a human with a machine, and Westin may not have gone along with idea had Anna not already proved herself to be a valued employee. Salaries in Silicon Valley cannot compete with some of the more illustrious areas, so there is a high turnover of staff. It’s a difficult issue to resolve, but at 50,000 dollars for the new ‘Virtual Anna’, they thought it was worth a try.
Summing it all up
The race is clearly on to develop robots to serve the public. More than a humanoid, and more than a computer screen.
We were able to contact Matthew Walker,
co-creator of Kings college’s ‘Inkha’, and asked for his thoughts on her future:
"Of course, Inkha is limited in ability and is no match for a real receptionist but I have seen visitors walk into reception, press a button on Inkha's screen for directions to one of the rooms in the University and then follow the directions without speaking to the receptionists. This can save the receptionists from dealing with some of the repetitive tasks. Inkha is also funny and can put visitors in a good frame of mind.
Inkha's fright and intrigue responses go down well, particularly with children.
My main efforts since finishing Inkha have been trying to produce versions of Inkha as toys and educational kits. We have also considered connecting Inkha to the telephone system so that visitors can contact the people they are visiting and also the addition of name and address input for prospectus requests."
Matthew Walker.
After a lot of searching due to her hotel changing ownership, we managed to contact Anna Morris:
She is still head concierge, 6 years later, complete with video screen and working from home. Anna now has a website, http://www.virtualwerks.com where she is promoting the technology that enabled her to manage her life in the way she wanted. She is pioneering ‘humanness behind technology’, which she sees as the opposite of replacing a human with a machine.
“Work from the comforts of home and appear a thousand miles away, in the VIP lounge of an international airport, in a busy lobby of a grand hotel, in the reception area of a Fortune 500 company, all at the same time.”
In conclusion
If you want your receptionists to give you the weather forecast, then chase off down the corridor hand in hand with one of your other staff, while they sing “I did it my way”, then the technology is there. Similarly if you like your receptionist, but would prefer it if they sat 1000 miles away from you, then Virtual Anna’s company could be your thing!
click below for Reception World
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