Tokyo start-up Couger is to provide its virtual shopping assistant Rachel to 5000 Family Mart convenience stores in Japan this year.

Rachel is operated by Couger’s humanoid AI platform Ludens, and it is possible to perform voice communication according to the characteristics and personality of the Family Mart store manager. This personalises the provided information based on store operation, ordering and points on the sales floor.

Since Rachel operates on a tablet terminal installed in the store, it can be used not only in the back office but also on the sales floor.

The humanoid AI assistant communicates not only with text and images, but also with voice, facial expressions and movement. It encourages behaviour through optimal information and communication based on store conditions and store manager characteristics.

The unit can handle large-scale data such as sales, number of customers, and provision of reference information. New product information can be providedalong with weekly information and confirmation of unimplemented items.

The aim is to improve store management capabilities through cooperation with store guidance by supervisors.

Couger provides a humanoid AI platform that communicates like a human being and includes image recognition, voice recognition and game AI to give it a human-like personality.