Conversational Humanoid Robotic Bartender Entertains Guests at the MSC Virtuosa Starship Club

An immersive experience involving mixology skills and humanlike interaction, speech-enabled by ReadSpeaker

We hope our readers are enjoying the summer season. Those going on vacation aboard MSC Cruises’ MSC Virtuosa will have the chance to interact firsthand with conversational AI in an exciting and innovative setting.

MSC Cruises are dedicated to constantly seeking out cutting-edge innovations to take their guest offering to the next level. In 2019, they introduced Zoe, the world’s first virtual personal cruise assistant. Now the line’s flagship, MSC Virtuosa, features Rob – the first-ever humanoid, seafaring robotic bartender.

So, if you’re one of the lucky guests aboard the MSC Virtuosa, you’ll get to enjoy the unique, futuristic immersive experience that is MSC Starship Club and watch Rob working alongside human staff, mixing your cocktails, greeting guests, and even telling jokes.

Rob speaks 8 languages – English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. He talks to guests according to the language they choose when they place their order, and interacts using ReadSpeaker’s text-to-speech voices.

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The humanoid robot bartender with a personality

According to the MSC press release (opens in a new tab), this humanoid robotic bartender is uniquely engineered to move in such a natural way that it’s just like a real bartender at work. A range of facial expressions and a natural voice enable Rob to interact in an emotionally-responsive, humanlike way.

Apparently, Rob has “a clear personality that evolves with the surrounding settings and atmospheres, and uses his LED face to convey emotion so that guests can enjoy his performance whilst they sip on their cocktail.”

MSC has stated that “Rob loves to interact with humans! He is not a cold machine but a humanoid that can interact with guests using witty and involving language, changing his facial expressions and if he is in the mood, even showing his dance moves. He likes being at the center of attention, something he does by telling everyone who surrounds him jokes, riddles and space trivia.”

If you’re involved in the hospitality user experience, contact ReadSpeaker today to discuss how our off-the-shelf or custom neural text-to-speech voices can enhance your guests’ experience.