Pepper the robot gets a gig at the Oakland airport

Pepper the robot has apparently been enjoying its time in the Bay this winter. After scoring a gig greeting shoppers at a pair of shopping malls just ahead of the holidays, Softbank’s friendly humanoid ‘bot will be hitting the airport in a [ahem] pilot program.

The latest in Pepper’s on-going factotum of jobs finds it taking up residence at a restaurant in Terminal 2 of the Oakland Airport. Pepper will be stationed at the Pyramid Taproom for a job that’s halfway between a restaurant host and legitimately helpful robot guide.

Pepper’s main task will be attempting to get people into the restaurant, offering up food and drink recommendations (because who knows better than a robot?) and recommending other dining locations throughout the airport.

More usefully, the robot will also offer up an interactive map to help travelers find gates, bathrooms and like. Of course, the pilot program is just a one-off for now, but if all goes well, Pepper could one day join the growing ranks of helper airport robots, which includes a trio of dancing kiosks from Future Robots, which were deployed at nearby San Jose International airport in October of last year.