Belgian Hospitals Employ Robots as Receptionists

Two hospitals in Belgium have employed robots to welcome patients and visitors, in what is reportedly the first use of automata to greet people in a medical setting. The robot, named Pepper, was unveiled Monday at a hospital in the eastern city of Liege, where it will act as a receptionist, Agence France-Presse reports. The cartoon-featured humanoid robot, which costs about 30,000 euros ( 33,800), is also being introduced at another facility in Ostend -- in northwest Belgium -- where it will perform the extra function of guiding visitors to the hospital's appropriate departments. Pepper the robot is manufactured by Tokyo-based tech firm SoftBank and versions are assembled in France, where they have already been tested out in a few shopping malls. The robot, described by its makers as "kindly, endearing and surprising," has a tablet computer mounted on its chest.