Tokyo's Haneda International Airport will begin using Whill's autonomous personal mobility service at its airports to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus in the airport while supporting individuals with reduced mobility.
Whill's self-driving device will be used to shuttle individual travelers at the airport with "mobility limitations" from departure gates three to seven. Once the mobility device has reached its designated gate destination, it will automatically drive itself back to its designated Whill Station.
"In the coronavirus era, we believe services that support mobility while maintaining social distancing will accelerate to replace human labor with robots and autonomous driving technologies," Whill CEO Satoshi Sugie said in a statement.
Yokohama, Japan-based Whill was founded in 2012 to disrupt the wheelchair and scooter market, according to the company. In 2018, Whill partnered with Scootaround — another personal mobility maker — to create a greater platform by integrating a rental service.
Whill has already completed 11 test trials of its autonomous devices at airports such as Dallas/Fort Worth International, John F. Kennedy International, and Abu Dhabi International, totalling almost 400 passengers.