It's a phone that's a robot that can walk, talk, remember, understand and take photos and videos and project these to any surface. RoBoHoN is set for release in Japan in the second half of next year, and that's a wait that could be considered cruel considering how cool this phone is.
RoBoHoN is truly an android and it's unlike anything Google, Samsung or LG have bolted together today. The robot phone was developed by Sharp with the assistance of Robo Garage CEO Tomotaka Takahashi, who created the world's first space-faring bot.
It's "a phone in human shape, a phone that you feel like talking to, a phone that also wants to know you," says Sharp. "To hear what you hear, to see what you see, to share the same dreams. That is little RoBoHoN's big dream. Don't you want to take RoBoHoN with you everywhere?"
And it really is a phone, one that runs on a version of the Android mobile operating system. RoBoHoN's main board is kitted out with 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi radios. Its core is made of a quad-core Qualcomm MSM 8926 and clocked at 1.2 GHz.
The bot is just over half a foot in stature and weighs about 0.85 pounds. There's a 2-inch QVGA screen built into its back with a resolution of 320 x 240, so there's an app for whatever RoBoHoN can't do out of the box.
RoBoHoN leverages its cameras for facial recognition and snapping photos upon command. There are also mics inside of RoBoHoN, which are tuned for voice recognition.
Then there's its projector. RoBoHoN can splatter pixels all over walls and floors and other surfaces, allowing users to snuggle up to a movie, for example, or to drag their friends to a modern rendition of post-trip slide shows.
RoBoHoN also isn't shy about using its arms and legs. In the video below, this cool little guy is seen encouraging a child to crawl and even dancing. Watch the whole thing, and then try to tell yourself you don't want one!
