Lowe’s Innovation Labs introduces retail service robots to help customers shop smarter, navigate stores more efficiently, and instantly access information to confidently complete home improvement projects
MOORESVILLE, N.C, 2014-11-4— /EPR Retail News/ — This holiday season, Lowe’s Innovation Labs will introduce two autonomous retail service robots in an Orchard Supply Hardware store in midtown San Jose, California to study how robotics technology can benefit customers and employees.
Called OSHbot, the robots will assist customers to quickly navigate stores by directing them to specific products and providing real-time information about product promotions and inventory. In the coming months, OSHbot will also be able to communicate with customers in multiple languages and remotely connect with expert employees at other Orchard stores to answer specific project questions.
“Using science fiction prototyping, we explored solutions to improve customer experiences by helping customers quickly find the products and information they came in looking for,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “As a result we developed autonomous retail service robot technology to be an intuitive tool customers can use to ask for help, in their preferred language, and expect a consistent experience.”
For store employees, OSHbot will provide an additional layer of support by helping customers with simple questions, enabling more time for them to focus on delivering project expertise. Applications designed to support employees also include real-time inventory management and connecting with employees in other locations to share know-how and answer customer questions.
The OSHbot incorporates scanning technology first developed for the Lowe’s Holoroom home improvement simulator. For example, a customer may bring in a spare part and scan the object using OSHbot’s 3D sensing camera. After scanning and identifying the object, OSHbot will provide product information to the customer and help guide them to its location on store shelves.
The OSHbot was developed through a partnership between Lowe’s Innovation Labs and Fellow Robots, a Silicon Valley technology company specializing in the design and development of autonomous service robots. The partnership was initiated through SU Labs, a Singularity University program that connects corporate innovation teams with startups and other organizations to explore exponentially accelerating technologies and create new sustainable business solutions.
“The last decade was one of rapid technological advancement and prototyping, especially in robotics,” said Marco Mascorro, chief executive officer of Fellow Robots. “With OSHbot, we’ve worked closely with Lowe’s Innovation Labs to take autonomous retail service robot technology out of the sandbox and into the consumer market – enhancing the in-store consumer experience and creating smarter shoppers.”
About Lowe’s
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 100 home improvement company serving approximately 15 million customers a week in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With fiscal year 2013 sales of $53.4 billion, Lowe’s has more than 1,835 home improvement and hardware stores and 260,000 employees. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
About Orchard Supply Hardware
Orchard Supply Hardware operates neighborhood hardware and garden stores focused on paint, repair and the backyard. Based in San Jose, California, Orchard was originally founded as a purchasing cooperative in 1931. Today, it operates 71 stores in California and two stores in Oregon. The stores average approximately 36,000 square feet of interior selling space and 8,000 square feet of exterior nursery and garden space. For more information, visit http://osh.com.
About SU Labs
SU Labs, a division of Singularity University, is an open innovation campus where large organizations, startups and field impact partners come to use rapidly accelerating technologies to create new sustainable business solutions and tackle the world’s biggest challenges. Singularity University is headquartered at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley and offers education programs and innovative partnerships to help individuals, businesses, institutions, investors, NGOs and governments understand and use technology to positively impact billions of people around the world.
About Fellow Robots
Fellow Robots, located in Silicon Valley, is at the forefront of reimagining retail using exponential technologies. Founded in 2012, Fellow Robots presented its first robot concept at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2013. With a diverse team of experts experienced in robotics, software, design and manufacturing, Fellow Robots works closely with its partners to enhance the consumer retail experience through robotics.