Project Goal

The aim of the project "Designing Social Robots for Customer Service" with our project partner Heidelberger Services AG is to develop systems and methods that will help to further improve customer service at physical touchpoints using social robots.  Social robots come with social interaction capabilities that can generate social responses in users. We want to understand how customers react to social robots and how we can design social robots to improve customer service in the context of public utilities service touchpoints. 

Social robots are increasingly popular in the German market. For this project we are using Furhat, a social robot known for its high expressiveness and customizability, demonstrated through numerous successful experiments. Furhat’s face styles and voices can be customized, enabling it to adapt to different roles. In addition to its customizability, Furhat features advanced speech recognition capabilities and is integrated with AI, allowing it to engage in deep conversations with customers. Furhat's dynamic facial expressions add to its lifelike quality, making it particularly promising for applications in customer service settings.

Further information on Heidelberger Services AG

The Heidelberger Services AG (hsag) is a medium-sized service company specializing in the processes and needs of the energy industry. With the areas of service, consulting, business process outsourcing, marketing and software products, hsag offers its energy industry customers a holistic spectrum of support for their operational business.

hsag is renowned for its software solutions tailored to municipal utilities and power suppliers, including a highly popular chatbot used by a significant number of customers. The next step in hsag's innovation journey is to bring this chatbot to life through a Furhat robot that can interact with customers in real-time. The energy industry today faces challenges such as repetitive tasks and a shortage of qualified employees. Furhat offers a promising new solution by expanding the range of customer service features and creating a more efficient, engaging customer experience at service touchpoints.

Please find additional information on Heidelberger Services AG here. Furthermore, feel free to contact Sandra Müller to learn more about the project, hsag, or consulting and services in the energy industry context in general.