EMIEW3: a guide robot tested in an airport, a station and electronics stores, with commercialization left to its successor

A 90 cm customer-service robot that gets up by itself

EMIEW3 is a customer-service robot that Hitachi unveiled in April 2016. It is 90 cm tall and weighs 15 kg, and it moves alongside people at up to 6 km/h. It can climb 15 mm steps and stand up on its own after a fall. It can find customers who seem to need help and approach them first, and several robots can share information and hand a customer over to one another. Speech, image and language processing run outside the robot, in a remote-brain design. The battery lasts about three hours depending on use. No price or release date was set, and Hitachi said it aimed to sell the robot in fiscal 2018.

From Haneda to Tokyo Station and electronics stores

The field trials clustered in autumn 2016. On 2 September an information-desk trial began in the departure lobby of Haneda Airport’s domestic Terminal 2. In step one the robot answered questions in Japanese and English, and in step two it moved by itself to the guidance display when asked. A third step, guiding people to a destination, was planned for around December. From 3 to 28 October, at the JR EAST Travel Service Center by the Marunouchi North Exit of Tokyo Station, it gave train and sightseeing information in Japanese, English and Chinese on weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00. From 10 to 18 December it was tested at three Nojima stores in Kanagawa, guiding customers to products and recommending items. On 26 March 2020 Hitachi and Hitachi Building Systems announced the commercialization of its successors, EMIEW4 and the tabletop EMIEW-TT, with domestic sales starting on 20 April. In the sources we opened, we found no mention of EMIEW3 itself being sold.

It answered over the noise, and turn-taking stayed on the to-do list

Hitachi’s in-house technical journal reported that the robot answered visitors’ questions even amid the airport’s noisy announcements. It also said that the robot speaking first helped visitors who did not know what to do. It listed turn-taking, eye contact and signal and voice processing as areas to improve. An article published by Hitachi says conversation was slow at Haneda and became relatively natural at Tokyo Station after an algorithm update. The sources we opened give no visitor counts or success rates. A January 2017 article said Hitachi hoped to launch the EMIEW3 service in 2018.

A trial robot, and a robot sold under contract

The EMIEW3 trials tested how well a customer-service robot works in noisy, crowded public spaces. EMIEW4, commercialized in 2020, is described as substantially more practical than EMIEW3, with automatic charging for continuous operation and better sensing for mobility. Its main targets are offices, hospitals and welfare facilities. Prices are by individual quote, and deploying it requires a service outsourcing contract with Hitachi Building Systems. The trial settings were an airport, a station and stores, but the commercialization announcement centered on reception, guidance and night patrol inside buildings. We could not confirm from the sources we opened whether this followed from the EMIEW3 trials.

Where can a robot that did well in trials actually be paid to work?

What we haven’t confirmed

• Whether EMIEW3 itself was ever sold (whether the fiscal 2018 sales target was met)
• Whether Haneda step three and Nojima step two actually took place, and their results
• Quantitative results such as visitor numbers and answer success rates
• Whether the robot used in the 2018–2019 JR East and Hitachi trials at Takanawa Gateway Station was EMIEW3 (the source says only EMIEW)