Meet 'RADA', Vistara's robot to assist customers at airports

Full-service carrier Vistara on Tuesday said it has created RADA, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered robot that can assist customers, address their queries and entertain them.

During the initial stage, RADA will be placed at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from July 5 and will assist customers using the lounge before they board their flights, Vistara said in a statement.

"With RADA, we aim to change the way people interact and fly with an airline," said Vistara CEO Leslie Thng.

RADA will be further developed over a period of time in terms of functionality and features for future use cases, after gauging customer feedback, the company said.

At present, the robot can scan boarding passes and further provide information on the terminal, departure gates, weather conditions of destination city, real time flight status as well as information about Vistara's products and services.

It can greet customers and interact with them using basic hand movements, and is capable of moving around in the lounge on predefined pathways.

Additionally, it can engage with kids and adults alike by playing games and other multimedia content such as songs and videos, Vistara said.

"We will be developing 'RADA' based on customer feedback and equipping it with the most effective features in the time to come. Our steadfast focus remains to be on delighting customers across all touchpoints, and we're confident that 'RADA' will help us take the 'new feeling' to the next level," Thng said.

The robot is built on a chassis of four wheels, enabling it to rotate 360 degrees, and it has three in-built cameras for cognitive interaction.

Combining these components with an effective voice technology, Vistara said it developed the robot to bring out an innovative solution to assist customers.

TATA SIA Airlines Limited, known by the brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51 per cent in the company.

--IANS

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