Robots to help greet and treat UBC Vancouver bookstore customers
Three robotic ambassadors have learned enough about UBC Vancouver’s bookstore and campus to help human students get ready for the new school term.
Since September 2, the trio of Kiwibot robots dubbed Grey, Kelly, and Robson (named after UBC’s core campus locations) are putting their knowledge on display and to the test at the UBC Bookstore. Made by Kiwibot, the robotics company based in San Francisco, California, the AI–powered robots are roughly the size of a minifridge (and way cooler in the figurative sense). They're reminiscent of iconic Pixar character Wall-E, but with wheels instead of treads.
With screen “faces” featuring eyes, they’re like prodigy plug-in puppies.
If you want to ask one a question, you can simply push a button on the robot’s lid and speak to it. Kiwibots are already being used extensively worldwide, including in Canada, for food delivery applications.
The robots navigate using sensors that detect movement and obstacles, while cameras capture and analyze human interactions. The robots don’t “see” in the traditional sense and the images don't contain any recognizable human features, nor are they recorded.
Now, in a first-of-its-kind technology pilot project on a Canadian university campus, Grey, Kelly, and Robson are deployed for four weeks at the UBC Bookstore. Kelly is answering student questions, while Grey and Robson are handing out treats helping to make students feel welcome. Their abilities and tasks will evolve as they learn more over time.
“They’re fascinating machines, but there’s more to them than their looks. This is part of a broader innovation partnership between Rogers and UBC. Powered by the Rogers 5G testbed, the goal is to study how students interact with the robots, and build a dataset on human-robot interaction, emotion recognition, and real-time AI learning for possible future and industry collaborations,” explained Raymond Chau, program manager of the Rogers UBC Collaborative Research and Innovation Partnership.
“In a way, the robots are also students because in the weeks leading up to the deployment, they needed to be ‘educated’ about UBC so they can perform their function,” Chau added.
The Kiwibots use 5G and AI technologies such as large language models with retrieval-augmented generation to learn and answer questions, and to navigate the layout of the UBC Bookstore. It took about two weeks to get Grey, Kelly, and Robson up to speed.
UBC’s research community will be engaged to explore potential research opportunities associated with the pilot.
“Having an opportunity to be involved in this kind of project is exciting and demonstrates just how unique a living lab environment the campus can be,” said Andrew Parr, Associate Vice-President, Student Housing and Community Services. “The bookstore is a perfect laboratory to do the work in.”
“Importantly, we also recognize that a campus can be an intimidating place for new and returning students. It’s big and can be confusing. We work hard to make sure we provide a welcoming environment. Grey, Kelly, and Robson add to those efforts in a unique way that we’re excited for everyone in our campus community to be part of.”
Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are encouraged to come and meet the Kiwibots at the UBC Bookstore through September.
