After two years of preparation, the FlyZoo Hotel — a futuristic property that uses interactive technologies to do everything from greet guests to deliver room service — is ready for business. Owned by China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, the hotel, which is currently on soft launch, is located on the company’s corporate campus in Hangzhou. The property is set to officially open later this year.

In late September, Alibaba A.I. Labs, which leads development of the company’s artificial intelligence products, announced a robot designed specifically for the hospitality sector. The tiny automatons, which stand about three feet tall and move at a speed of approximately two miles per hour, are encased in aluminum and feature multi-sensor data functionality and parallel computing. The robots come with an autonomous navigation system to recognize obstacles, a communications system to control elevators, facial recognition technology to verify identities, and semantic mapping to improve human-robot interaction.

At FlyZoo Hotel, robots are found throughout the property. Guests can ‘talk’ to the interactive assistants using voice commands, hand gestures and touch. The robots can perform a variety of tasks, from delivering laundry to closing the curtains. They increase efficiency and reduce overhead by bridging the gap between guest needs and response times and enabling the property to significantly reduce staff.

In the near future, Alibaba Group says it plans to open unmanned restaurants and libraries on its corporate campus. A.I. Labs will determine if the robots are suitable for other scenarios, such as hospitals and offices, after testing them in the hotel sector.

According to research firm Global Market Insights, the demand for service robots is on the rise, primarily due to advances in artificial intelligence, cloud technology, machine learning and the Internet of Things. These technologies not only enhance efficiency but also enable decision-making in real time.

Likewise, the International Federation of Robotics (IRF), a global industry non-profit organization, predicts a positive long-term sales forecast for service robots, with an expected growth rate of 20 percent to 25 percent within the next two years.