Yobot the Luggage-Totin' Robot Gets Busy at Yotel New York Hotel

It's not the kind of thing you expect to see on the sidewalks of New York--and most Times Square locals have seen just about everything--but the Yotel New York hotel's new front-desk robot is definitely a head-turner.

Instead of leaving the task of lugging luggage to human luggers, the Yotel New York has employed Yobot, the world's first luggage-storing robot, to quickly store and retrieve guests' luggage. And instead of performing this task in a dark and dingy storage room, Yobot performs before a large sidewalk-level window for all passersby to see.

It's an impressively smooth and quick process which is as efficient as it is entertaining. The Yotel New York, located on W. 42nd St. and 10th Ave. just west of Times Square, will specialize in rooms that are small, but efficiently designed but nowhere near as small as the micro-accommodations at Yotel's rent-by-the-hour "pod" hotels at two London airports and one in the Amsterdam.

Want more information? See my PC World story.

Video and text Copyright 2011 Robert S. Anthony, Stadium Circle Features