Emerico, a U.S.-based provider of banking and retail technology, has unveiled its R35 self-service robot. The R35 is the latest addition to a line of Emerico products designed to assist customers in service oriented industries.

According to a press release, the R35 aims to redefine and improve the customer experience by providing a more seamless process for various customer centric tasks.

Outfitted with an ultrasonic sensor on each side and an internal GPS tracker, the R35 can maneuver intelligently across the floor to greet patrons and assist them with various tasks.

Among other features, the R35 includes a keypad with a secure card reader and a built-in receipt printer. It is also equipped a 12.3-inch display for quick assistance via video conference.

The robot employs rechargeable 12-volt batteries with a 48-hour life on standby and a 12-hour life in constant use. When idle, the robot automatically returns to its charging station.

"The conception of the R35 was an incentive at Emerico to further advance and enhance the customer experience in the financial industry," Emerico CEO Francis Lai said in the release. "[T]his ensures a more seamless and improved customer experience and concurrently [saves] much storage space."

The V8 Smart Aviation VTM has been designed with IATA specification to be integrated with customer self-service (CUSS), common use passenger processing systems (CUPPS) and common use terminal equipment (CUTE) platforms. It enables passengers to interact with operators, make purchases and manage a full range of services, including amending their flight details. It also minimizes the need for airline and airport operators to lease additional space to house these services as terminals can be strategically placed anywhere in the airport.

Our core focus has always been to create a seamless infrastructure to enhance the customer experience. With the aviation sector embracing the digital revolution and increasingly looking to streamline its processes, we felt that it was a good time to adapt and share our technology with the industry.

For both parties, the V8 Smart Aviation VTM creates a streamlined process and ensures no time is wasted between the first contact point (purchase of tickets) and departure. Plus, for passengers, it has an easy-to-use touch panel for enhanced customer interaction and for airports, its capability to handle daily over the counter services minimizes operations and staffing costs.

Absolutely. Our software platform, Alexis, is developed in-house which gives us a huge advantage, as we can be flexible and tailor our product to a customer’s requirements. We appreciate that a smaller airport might not have access to the same sort of budget as a larger airport, so we’ll work with them to disable certain features as they see fit. Once that airport grows and gains higher passenger traffic, we can reinstate or add-on features.

AWe are reaching out to several regional and independent airports who have taken interest in integrating our smart solutions. We are unable to disclose any names at the moment, but watch this space!

We actually have several projects that we plan on unveiling in the coming year. One of our most exciting prospects is our Self-Service Robot which we are hoping to unveil at the World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain.

We would like to see a focus on a passenger-centric experience. This will require those behind the design and infrastructure of airport processes to work in tandem so these two elements can be seamlessly integrated.