Robot works at Mark’s store to prove concept

A humanoid robot has been spotted working at a Mark’s store.

The first deployment of its kind in a commercial environment took place at a Mark’s retail store in Langley, BC. The week-long pilot at the Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC)-owned store tested the general-purpose robot built by Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation (Sanctuary AI) in a ‘real-life’ store environment.

“Working with Sanctuary AI has enabled Canadian Tire Corporation to further explore cutting-edge innovations and accelerate operational efficiency. With the Mark’s pilot, we were able to focus human resources on higher-value and more meaningful work, like customer service and engagement,” said Cari Covent, CTC’s VP, data, analytics and AI.

“By making strategic investments and working with partners like Sanctuary AI, we are furthering our customer understanding, customer experience, and operational efficiencies to drive our Better Connected strategy.”

The robot completed 110 retail-related tasks correctly, including front and back-of-store activities such as picking and packing merchandise, cleaning, tagging, labelling, folding, and more. The tested tasks had previously only been performed in Sanctuary AI’s labs, which mirrored the commercial setting.

“Many organizations are facing labour challenges. Our population is aging, birth rates are declining, and workers have more choice for what they do and where they work than ever in history,” said Geordie Rose, co-founder and CEO, Sanctuary AI.

“Through our partnership with Canadian Tire Corporation, we worked on analyzing how their work was done and what work people like and don’t like doing, in both their retail and distribution centre environments. In January we deployed a general-purpose robot to a retail store to attempt to perform many necessary but rudimentary tasks that people note finding unsatisfying or unfavorable. The results were spectacular. We are ecstatic to have accomplished this with Canadian Tire Corporation, one of Canada’s leading companies.”

The company expects its humanoid general-purpose robots should be able to perform physical labour across virtually every industry.

Sanctuary AI is backed by Bell, Canadian Tire Corporation, Evok Innovations, Export Development Canada, Magna, SE Health, Verizon Ventures, and Workday Ventures. Sanctuary AI has now received more than $100 million in funding since its founding in Vancouver, Canada in 2018, and is active in its next funding round.