The Silicon Review ^Asia

Invento, a Bangalore-based company, has developed a robot called Spod, Economic Times reported. The robot is still in the development phase but manages to identify faces, introduce itself, communicate with people, take inputs, and move. The robot is being created as an AI shopping assistant and can be deployed in the supermarkets in the near future.

Invento stated that the robot can be used at supermarkets or in the inventories of large e-commerce firms. Spod will scan the customers face via a tablet as soon as they enter any grocery store and recognize the customer if they have visited earlier or not. The robot will also identify the gender and age of the customer and suggest products according to these outputs.

Spod can help customers to find a product which they are looking for. The robot will guide the customers to the specified shelf. The customers would not have to carry a shopping basket as Spod will be equipped with a basket. Spod’s tablet will give information to the customers such as product information, offers, and discounts. The robot will also ensure that remote assistance is offered to the customers. If any customer wishes to talk to a field expert then Spod will connect them via video call.

People familiar with the matter said that currently, only rechargeable batteries can power the robot and the final version will be programmed as such so that it docks itself to the charging point in case of a low battery.