Osaka Metro puts a humanoid on its station information counter

Osaka Metro, KDDI and AVITA began a public trial on 31 August 2026 in which a humanoid robot, dressed in Osaka Metro staff uniform, works the information counter at Metro Opus Umeda. The robot runs on Google’s Gemini and handles customer guidance and station information in more than one language, English and Chinese among them. The Umeda run continues to 6 September, from 11am to 8pm, and a second stint follows at Metro Opus Tanimachi-Kucho East from 9 to 15 September.

KDDI supplies the network and AI infrastructure; AVITA built the robot and its dialogue system. The stated purpose is narrow and testable: verify whether there is demand for humanoid-assisted customer service, gauge whether passengers accept it, and find the operational problems before any wider rollout. The operator frames it against staffing shortages in customer-facing roles.

What makes this worth recording is not the machine but the shift. Station guidance in a language a passenger actually speaks has always been rationed by who happens to be on shift. A counter that answers in Mandarin at 7pm on a Tuesday is a capability the station did not previously have — and the trial’s end date is the honest measure of how provisional it still is.