Send in the Robots

Home improvement retailer tests whether ‘OSHbots’ can help improve customer service.

October 30, 2014

NEW YORK – Artificial intelligence? Home improvement Lowe’s is hoping so by testing whether robots can help customers find something as simple as a match for a hard-to-find nail, reports The Associated Press.

The robots — OSHbots — are on wheels and equipped with 3-D cameras so they can scan and identify items, and direct customers to the aisles where merchandise is located. Customers can also research items they want to buy on the robot’s screen. The robots have a database of the store’s inventory and can identify whether a product is in or out of stock.

"They're based on making a science fiction story a reality," Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe's Innovation Lab, told the news source, adding, “People can come in with a random screw and say Mr. Robot, I need more of these, and if we do have it in the store, they can find it.”

Four OSHbots are currently being tested at an Orchard Supply Hardware store owned by Lowe’s in San Jose, California.

Lowe’s is also following the big-to-small trend by some of the nation’s largest retailers, such as Walmart and Target, with an announcement that it plans to open smaller format stores in 2015. 

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