by
Mark A. Ollig
A
Lowe’s Orchard Supply Hardware store, located in tech-savvy midtown San Jose,
CA, will soon begin using advanced, interactive robots for in-store customer
service.
There
will be two high-tech autonomous robots used. They are being called OSHbots,
which stands for Orchard Supply Hardware robots.
These
friendly-looking, and independently-operating robots, will listen with what
appears to be a bit of empathy, while a customer explains, or shows the OSHbot
what they are looking for.
Imagine
a customer walking into a hardware store, holding up an item to an OSHbot and
saying “I need more of these.”
This
OSHbot would search its database, and display the item on its screen so the
customer sees it.
The
robot then asks in English (or the customer’s preferred language), “Is this the
item?”
Not
only that, the OSHbot then tells the customer where the item is located inside
the store, and will even “walk” (via its wheels) with them to where the item is
located on the store’s shelf.
Pretty
cool, huh?
The
OSHbot has a built-in 3D sensing camera, allowing it to scan an item brought in
and shown to it by a customer. The OSHbot will then determine if the store has
the item in stock.
One
video demonstration shows an OSHbot approaching a customer as they enter the
store. In a pleasing voice, it says “Hello, I am OSHbot, the Orchard store
robot helper. What are you looking for today?”
This
person asks for a specific-sized hammer.
The
OSHbot is then seen traveling down a store aisle, along with the customer,
saying “I’ll take you to the plumb 16 ounce flat contoured handle hammer
aisle.”
Each
OSHbot knows the complete inventory of what is in the store, and can tell a
customer if an item is available on the store shelves, or is currently out of
stock.
If
a robot becomes confused, or needs an answer to a difficult question, it has
the ability to communicate with the store’s human employees.
The
OSHbots contain multiple sensors, including “collision avoidance” programming.
This
programming allows them to navigate throughout a particular store without
bumping into anything (or anyone).
Your
always-investigative columnist found and read the Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
October 28 press release titled, “The Future of Shopping has Arrived and its
Name is OSHbot.”
“Using
science fiction prototyping, we explored solutions to improve customer
experiences by helping customers quickly find the products and information they
came in looking for,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation
Labs, which is presenting the two retail service robots at the Orchard Supply
Hardware store.
The
media contact person at Lowes Companies Inc. responded to my request for an
interview about the OSHbots with, “Unfortunately, we are in our quiet period
ahead of earnings later this month and are unable to facilitate interviews at
this time.”
So,
my faithful readers, once I am able to have my OSHbot questions answered from
Lowes, I will write an updated column about these Autonomous Retail Service
Robots, and how they are handling real-life, in-store customer situations.
If
you have any OSHbot questions, email them to me, and I’ll add them to my list
for when I am granted an interview with Lowe’s.
Lowe’s
also made this comment in their press release regarding the store’s human employees;
“OSHbot will provide an additional layer of support by helping customers with
simple questions, enabling more time for them [store human employees] to focus
on delivering project expertise.”
Fellow
Robots is the name of the Silicon Valley high-tech company Lowe’s Innovation
Labs collaborated with in designing and developing these autonomous robots
This
company was founded in 2012, and demonstrated its first concept robot during
the January 2013 Consumer Electronics Show.
Orchard
Supply Hardware began in 1931, and was originally stocked with orchard ladders,
picking pails, sprays, fertilizers, and other farming supplies.
Today,
they focus on “paint, repair and the backyard” in 71 stores in California, and
two in Oregon.
I
learned Orchard Supply Hardware was purchased last year by Lowe’s, the national
home improvement hardware store retailer.
Orchard
Supply uploaded an informative two-and a-half minute video to YouTube
introducing their new robots. It can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/qfgsm3c.
Yes,
dear readers, we are moving into an era of being provided in-store customer
assistance via autonomous robots – hopefully, they’ll all have pleasant,
engaging personalities.
Pictures
of an OSHbot assisting a customer searching for a particular roofing nail, and
traversing a store aisle, can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/qyf4tno and
http://tinyurl.com/kzrrrkf.
