BEIJING – American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken has launched its first artificial intelligence-enabled store in Beijing, in a bit to bring more innovative and interesting dining experiences for customers.
With the co-operation of Baidu Inc, China’s largest search engine, KFC started its first smart restaurant in Beijing’s Financial Street area on Friday.
At the store, customers are able to take pictures with a machine, which will recognize the diner’s face, sex, age, mood and other features, then help to recommend suitable food and set meals and complete the ordering process.
“If the consumer visits the store again and takes a picture with the machine, it will be able to recognise his or her face and show the previous purchase history, remember the customer’s dining habits, and help to place an order faster,” said Wu Zhongqin, deputy director of the Institute of Deep Learning of Baidu Inc, which helped to develop the technology.
With another machine with an augmented reality, or AR function, customers are able to interact with the machine, change facial expressions by shaking their heads in front of the machine, take photos, and save them to their phones.
In April, KFC, an affiliate of Yum China Holdings Inc, started its first Chinese smart restaurant in Shanghai. The outlet is equipped with intelligent robot ordering, debuting the use of artificial intelligence in chain restaurants.
Zhao Li, general manager of Beijing KFC, plans to expand such services nationwide with 5,000 stores soon.
Source: Asia One
