Pepper robot, able to communicate with people and interpret their emotions, will go on sale in Japan on Saturday for the general public, announced on Thursday the Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank.
This android "with heart" developed jointly by SoftBank Mobile and the French manufacturer of robotic Aldebaran Robotics has already been incorporated as a dependent to some establishments Nestcafé and Softbank in China, but as of June 20 will be marketed domestically.
The company will release in Japan a first printing of 1,000 copies for a base price of 198,000 yen (1,400 euros or $ 1,600) and announced that it will reach other countries but did not reveal the date.
"We tried to create a robot with a heart that can understand the feelings of the people and establish a relationship with them," he said during a presentation to the media crowded Masaoshi Son, CEO of Softbank.
To do so, Pepper, which has a height of 120 centimeters, uses technology developed by cocoro SB Corp that allows you artificially generate their own emotions.
"If the lights go out scared, if you are engaged hurtful words are sad and when he is fondly is able to mourn for joy (her tears are represented in individual blue lights in his eyes)," said Son.
Android, which has no feet but is able to articulate his arms freely and move his eyes and head movement of a person through their sensors and cameras, has been specially designed with families in mind.
Pepper can take pictures of the family unit, sing happy birthday to each member at the time or try to encourage them when it detects that one is sad.
The robot is also able to store memories for a period of 20 years and is permanently connected to the cloud, allowing you to share your experiences and knowledge with other models Pepper said the CEO.
This, said the manager, does not compromise the personal information of the family, which in any case is transmitted to the outside.
Although June marks only the marketing of the units in China, SoftBank announced it has signed an agreement with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Taiwanese Foxconn Technology Group to coordinate sales abroad.
Alibaba and Foxconn will invest 14,500 billion yen (104 million euros or $ 118 million) in Robotics SoftBank Holdings, and pass each to hold 20% of the shares of the company, while SoftBank will retain 60 percent.
In autumn, SoftBank plans to launch a model designed for companies who has called "Pepper for Biz", whose details will be released next July, the company said.
This android "with heart" developed jointly by SoftBank Mobile and the French manufacturer of robotic Aldebaran Robotics has already been incorporated as a dependent to some establishments Nestcafé and Softbank in China, but as of June 20 will be marketed domestically.
The company will release in Japan a first printing of 1,000 copies for a base price of 198,000 yen (1,400 euros or $ 1,600) and announced that it will reach other countries but did not reveal the date.
"We tried to create a robot with a heart that can understand the feelings of the people and establish a relationship with them," he said during a presentation to the media crowded Masaoshi Son, CEO of Softbank.
To do so, Pepper, which has a height of 120 centimeters, uses technology developed by cocoro SB Corp that allows you artificially generate their own emotions.
"If the lights go out scared, if you are engaged hurtful words are sad and when he is fondly is able to mourn for joy (her tears are represented in individual blue lights in his eyes)," said Son.
Android, which has no feet but is able to articulate his arms freely and move his eyes and head movement of a person through their sensors and cameras, has been specially designed with families in mind.
Pepper can take pictures of the family unit, sing happy birthday to each member at the time or try to encourage them when it detects that one is sad.
The robot is also able to store memories for a period of 20 years and is permanently connected to the cloud, allowing you to share your experiences and knowledge with other models Pepper said the CEO.
This, said the manager, does not compromise the personal information of the family, which in any case is transmitted to the outside.
Although June marks only the marketing of the units in China, SoftBank announced it has signed an agreement with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Taiwanese Foxconn Technology Group to coordinate sales abroad.
Alibaba and Foxconn will invest 14,500 billion yen (104 million euros or $ 118 million) in Robotics SoftBank Holdings, and pass each to hold 20% of the shares of the company, while SoftBank will retain 60 percent.
In autumn, SoftBank plans to launch a model designed for companies who has called "Pepper for Biz", whose details will be released next July, the company said.