Robot assistants do the waiting for phone buyers

They dance, they do yoga, and, at the push of a button, they will take your place in a queue.

A line of Alpha 1 robots were outside Spark stores in Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton yesterday, doing jigs as they held a place in the queue at the launch of the latest Apple phone.

The virtual assistants had been assigned to the first 100 customers who’d signed up to get the new iPhone 7, in what could be the start of a new robotic shopping experience. The phones will be available to buy next Friday.

Customer and marketing manager for Spark, Clive Ormerod, said the robot army wasn’t just about the novel experience.

“We wanted to give our existing customers an experience of the atmosphere and excitement of the queue for them,” he said. “They can get on with their lives and still be the first to get the newest device.”

He said the robots, produced by Chinese company Ubtech, aren’t available for sale in New Zealand and are “exclusive” to Spark customers. Ormerod had his own robot assistant, which he’d nicknamed Boris.

One customer who’d been given a robot before the launch, Dr Michelle Dickinson, otherwise known as Nanogirl, said her “Nanobot” was impressive.

“He’s great — he’s already programmed to complete movements and tasks, but I’m pushing myself to code him to do even more.”

Fashion label Huffer’s head Steve Dunstan joined the robotic queue via FaceTime on his robot, who he’d be naming Bark. He was pretty “excited” about getting a new phone and said the robot was an added bonus.

Dunstan hoped Bark would do “hard yards” for him and save him time by acting as a placeholder in other queues. He was looking forward to testing out what else it could do to make his day easier.