[ONLINE.WSJ] Lowe's Cos. is introducing robotic shopping assistants at an Orchard Supply Hardware store in San Jose, Calif., in late November. Lowe's, which acquired Orchard Supply last year, says this is the first retail robot of its kind in the U.S.The OSHbot will greet customers, ask if they need help and guide them through the store to the product. Besides natural-language-processing technology, the 5-foot tall white robot houses two large rectangular screens--front and back--for video conferences with a store expert and to display in-store specials. The head features a 3-D scanner to help customers identify items. OSHbot speaks English and Spanish, but other languages will be added.
OSHbot, co-created by Lowe's and startup Fellow Robots, is "solving a big problem," said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe's Innovation Labs. It is a way to bring more shopping convenience and some of the benefits of e-commerce into a physical store. The company will have two robots working, he said.