Softbank Corp. introduced to the world Pepper, a humanoid robot that is designed to read human emotions.
Pepper, which has a rolling base instead of legs but has human-like arms and hands, rolled onto the stage during the demonstration and touched hands with Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son.
"People may look back 100 years later, or 200 years later (and say) that was a historic moment we are having today," said Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son.
Pepper's ability to read and respond to human editions is based on its face recognition technology, supported by several cameras, audio recorders and sensors located at the robot's head. The robots change their behavior depending on what mood they read from humans.
A unique feature about Pepper is that, instead of having a definite set of programming that tells the robot how to react to situations, Pepper learns its behavior over time. Feedback on its responses is subsequently sent to a cloud-based storage where other Pepper robots can access the information to modify their own behaviors.
Pepper stands 48 inches tall and weighs 62 lbs. It has two large eyes on its head, with a panel display on its chest for communication with the robot. Its hands have two touch sensors, its head has three touch sensors, and its base has six laser sensors and three bumper sensors. Pepper also has four microphones and two cameras on its head, along with Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity. It is also programmed with 17 languages.
Pepper was created in partnership with Aldebaran Robotics.
"For the past nine years, I've believed that the most important role of robots will be as kind and emotional companions to enhance our daily lives, to bring happiness, constantly surprise us, and make people grow," said Aldebaran CEO Bruno Maisonnier.
The robot will be on sale in Japan starting February next year for the price of about $1,900, which analysts say is a surprisingly low price for Pepper.
Robot companions in Japan have been popular, but no commercially released robot has yet achieved great success. Many companies such as Toyota and Hitachi, along with several startup companies and universities, have tried their hand in creating such humanoid robots. One of the more popular ones is Honda's Asimo, but it is not released commercially because it is too complex for home use.
Google is also looking to get into the robotics industry, acquiring engineering and robotics design company Boston Dynamics late last year.
