Robot Receptionists Greet Patients At Belgian Hospitals

Belgium has made a leap into the future after employing ROBOTS to act as receptionists in two hospitals.

Pepper, who looks like something out of a Pixar animation, will greet visitors at the hospitals in Liege and Ostend instead of humans.

Once people have checked in with the robot, he will guide visitors and patients to the relevant departments.

Costing a not-too-pricey £24,000, Pepper is described by his Tokyo-based makers SoftBank as a “a genuine humanoid companion created to communicate with you in the most natural and intuitive way, through his body movements and his voice”.

Humanoid: Pepper is designed to communicate naturally with humans (SoftBank)

The robot has already been tested out in French shopping malls and he is also set to be rolled out across 1,000 Nescafe outlets in Japan.

Pepper, who has a tablet mounted on his chest, communicates with humans using cameras and microphone fitted inside its head, as well as touch sensors on its hands.

And with his looks, he is unlikely to appear in the next Terminator film.

Top pic: AFP