Pizza Hut To Unveil Robot Employee, Digital Wallet Payments

Hungry for a slice? Ask Pepper, the SoftBank-designed humanoid robot.

MasterCard has inked a deal with Pizza Hut to bring Pepper to restaurants across Asia by the end of 2016. The move is intended to push MasterCard’s MasterPass digital wallet, which Pizza Hut patrons can use by either tapping the Pepper icon within the wallet or by scanning a QR code on Pepper’s display, while connected to Wi-Fi. Pepper can also provide recommendations and offers.

“Core to our digital transformation journey is the ability to make it easier for customers to engage, connect and transact with Pizza Hut,” Vipul Chawla, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Restaurants Asia, said in a statement. “With an order-and-payment-enabled Pepper, customers can now come to expect personalized ordering at our stores, reduce wait time for carryout, and have a fun, frictionless user experience.”

Unveiled a year ago, Pepper can detect sadness based on your expressions and voice tones. Using built-in cameras, touch sensors, an accelerometer, and other senses, the robot is programmed to react appropriately. It comes with full humanoid traits, including eyes, a nose, and mouth, and sports a 10.1-inch display, six lasers, two sonars, and more.

Pepper went on sale last year for about $1,700, and recently had a trial run in a Japanese electronics store. Earlier this month, SoftBank opened Pepper to Android developers; a beta version of the Pepper SDK for Android Studio is available now.

Original Article:http://www.pcmag.com/news/344718/pizza-hut-adding-pepper-robots-to-restaurants-in-asia

Read More:Carl’s Jr. Fast Food Chain To Replace 100% Of Workforce With Robots

Read More:As Minimum Wage Skyrockets, Fast Food Chains Unveil ‘Self-Service Kiosks’

Read More:Bank Tellers Are Being Replaced By Touch Screen Navigators As Technology Takes Over