This year, Bloomingdale’s, a department store in New York City, has incorporated ABB robots into three of its displays at its flagship 59th Street store.
In one of Bloomingdale’s windows, four of ABB’s six-axis IRB 120 robots autonomously decorate a Christmas tree by placing 20 gold ornaments on stands positioned within its branches. They then remove the bulbs, so that they can repeat the 30-minute process.
In another display, four ABB bots perform Christmas carols for onlookers using several instruments, including a tambourine, chime and digital xylophone.
Finally, in the last window, three robots encourage passersby to sing along to carols while showcasing their six-axis motion using a trio of song lyric-displaying screens.
ABB worked with roboticist Andy Flessas to design the displays.
ABB said it hopes the high-tech window displays will not only entertain shoppers, but also show other retailers how they could incorporate robots into their own stores.
“Our demonstrations in Bloomingdale’s show how robotics can make visual merchandising more dynamic and engaging,” said Marc Segura, ABB’s global head of service robotics.
“In the future, retailers could use robotics to create innovative mediums to interact with customers, demonstrate products, and engage at the point-of-sale with far more appeal and relevance than traditional static point-of-sale displays.”
All of the Bloomingdale’s robots are being monitored 24 hours a day by the ABB from its US Robotics headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan using ABB Ability Connected Services technology.
