Soon A Humanoid Will Tell Passengers About Tourist Spots At Karnataka's Kempegowda Airport

Passengers reaching Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) can soon meet a humanoid offering airport information and tourist places in Karnataka.

Tourism minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday said the humanoid built on artificial intelligence by a Bengaluru-based startup Sirena Technologies is being tested for deployment at KIA.

"He will give information on various tourist places in the state as well as other information. He is being called KEMPA, for now," said Kharge.

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He said 'KEMPA' will also be able to interact with passengers in Kannada as well. ¡°He may greet you or ask how the visit in the state was and other things. It will be deployed soon at the airport.¡±

A 1:19 minute video posted by Kharge on Twitter shows KEMPA talking in Kannada and English. It also suggests places to visit in the state and also engages in casual conversation with passengers.

Kempa, our humanoid is trying to learn Kannada as well. Here is how he will interact with you. He will soon be smart enough to have a conversation with you. @KarnatakaWorld @Gaurav_Gupta67 @KbitsMd #Elevate pic.twitter.com/84tkjEEm3p

¡ª Priyank Kharge (@PriyankKharge) March 29, 2018

Kharge told TOI that Sirena Technology is one of the startups that benefited from the state government¡¯s start up policy. ¡°We¡¯ve created an environment for startups to come up with innovations. This humanoid is completely made in Bengaluru,¡± he said.

It is also expected to provide visitors with check-in information, directions and shops at airport. This will also help tourists visiting the state from airport.

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In foreign countries, humanoid robots are commonly seen assisting passengers. For instance, Lufthansa and Munich Airport have recently started testing of a humanoid robot in Terminal 2 of the airport. It could be used for check-ins, scanning passengers¡¯ baggages and boarding passes.