Robot unveils Smartworks’ new co-work center in Bengaluru

It’s not every day that you see a presentation delivered by a host made of metal and wires. But that’s what Smartworks, a co-working company did when it engaged a robot to host an event organised to open its new facility in Bengaluru’s tech centre, Bellandur on Thursday.

Developed by a Bengaluru start-up Invento Robotics, Mitri, the R2D2-styled robot, gave the open­ing speech and even chatted with intrigued guests at the end.

Its creator claims the robot interacts with humans and can carry out tasks that we have come to expect from virtual assistants.
Plus, it also draws its hand out for a handshake when one smile at it.

The robot’s presence at the event was the result of a collaboration between Smartworks and Invento Robotics, where the two have signed an order to have Mitri at some of the Smartworks centres across India.

Smartworks, launched is 2016, creates shared office spaces solely focussed on enterprise clients.
The Gurugram-based company has 20 centres across 9 cities.

Invento Robotics has pro­grammed Mitri to serve as an in-house assistant for Smartworks. That means, it can be used for punch-ins (through face recognition using the in-built camera on the robot), answering general queries such as directions, etc, and manage the visitor logs.

Its scope will be expand­ed in the months to come, said Smartworks founder Neetish Sarda.

“Having Mitri in the lobby is not only an attraction for visitors, but it also goes to give a sense of how we have used technology at every facet of our office design and management,” added Sarda.

Smartworks’ latest facili­ty has the capacity to seat 6,000 people and covers an area of 3 lakh square feet.