| P O R T H O L E 17 Dec 15

CRUISE ships – the next robotic
frontier?
Royal Caribbean already has
bionic bartenders, and it looks
like the trend will continue with
the Costa Group confirming an
exclusive €1 million deal with
French company Aldebaran for
an onboard trial of its “Pepper”
robot range.
Pepper is claimed to
be the first robot to read human
emotions, and is “ideally suited
to help and delight guests on
board cruise ships”.
The move will see Pepper roll
out on Costa and AIDA vessels,
guiding guests
when they embark
and being on
hand to provide
recommendations
on restaurants,
events and
excursions in
“impeccable
German, Italian
and English”.