The staff at our European office, Snowdog, has an interesting resident working amongst them. Meet SnowPepper:
Snowdog is an official partner of SoftBank Robotics who is a worldwide leader in robotics. SoftBanks’s first emotional robot, Pepper, was launched back in 2014. Pepper is much more than your average robot. Pepper was designed to be an assistant and is capable of understanding and reacting to human emotions. Coming equipped with directional microphones and a 3D camera, SnowPepper is completely interactive. Additionally, Pepper can learn through experiences and is compatible with Android. Using SoftBank’s software development kit, programmers can adapt technologies and expand Pepper’s possibilities.
SnowPepper is being used in the Snowdog office each day as an assistant. However, her function doesn’t stop there. Pepper is also being used by the research and development team to create new applications and solutions to make her even smarter. Our co-workers at Snowdog are currently working with Pepper on many new skills.
What’s Happening With SnowPepper
Information Finetuning: Programmers are working with Pepper on her skills within offices, stores, and events. Therefore, they are finetuning her ability to respond to questions and her ability to guide customers through their shopping experiences.
Technology Integration: Mobile apps, as well as machine learning, can be integrated with Pepper’s tablet display. The Snowdog team is currently working with Pepper on product recognition and recommendations.
Customer Relations: Improving interactions between SnowPepper and customers is the main goal. As a result, the team is always working on trying to make Pepper’s interactions more natural and humanlike. This includes helping Pepper to detect people and start conversations with them.
Entertainment: Working with SnowPepper opens up the door for lots of entertainment. The Snowdog team is helping her to learn to engage with customers in new and fun ways. For example, she is learning to offer promo codes, engaging customers in surveys or quizzes or even suggesting they take selfies together!
We are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for SnowPepper in our European office. Check back often for updates on what the Snowdog team is working with her on and, as always, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments.
