On Monday, April 13th, the Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ bank unveiled a new robot information assistant that listens to customers questions and provides helpful guidance and advice.

The robot, essentially an Aldebaran NAO humanoid with some custom datafiles and programming, is the first experiment and based on the trial results the bank plans on introducing the robot in hundreds of their branches throughout the country.

As they collect data on customer reactions to the new robot, typical inquiries, and the like, the bank in conjunction with Aldebaran will make adjustments and improvements to the system.

NAO isn't intended to replace human bank staff. Quite the contrary. Bank management seems to using the robot as a combination customer service and marketing tool providing a higher level of customer support and consistency while presenting the bank as a user of the latest technology.