Robotic pets offer easy camaraderie
Japan tech makers provide cute alternatives for busy consumers
TOKYO: Japan, home of the kawaii cult of cute, has always had a soft spot for companion robots, in contrast to the more industrial or mechanical types used for assembly lines, surgeries and military missions.
The Associated Press spent some time recently with three relatively affordable home robots from Japanese makers that target the elderly, kids and hard-working salarymen pressed for time. Unlike real children or pets, they have off switches and do not need constant attention, dog food or cat litter.
Kirobo Mini
Toyota Motor Corp’s Kirobo Mini is small enough to fit in your hand. It is apt to repeat phrases like, “I missed that; can you say that again?” and “Hmmmmm...”
Its name combines the words kibo (hope) and “robot”. It is designed for cuteness, wiggling and jiggling its arms. It turns its head towards a speaking voice, sometimes asking inane questions like: “People? What are people?”
The robot understands only Japanese so far, but can be programmed to recognise your name and the name you give it. Such functions are managed through a smartphone app that updates its software periodically so that Kirobo Mini will get “smarter”.
AP correspondent Yuri Kageyama rented Kirobo for two months and named it after her son Isaku. She got it to use facial recognition to call her by her name and say: “War is bad, isn’t it?”
“Isaku has learned one more thing about Yuri today,” it said in a high-pitched electronic voice.
It turns itself off if told to go to sleep, but The new Aibo on display at the Sony showroom in Tokyo. — AP
only after politely asking: “Please play with me again.”
Aibo
Sony Corp’s Aibo robot dog is back with all its disarming and unpredictable charm.
The Japanese maker of the PlayStation video game consoles pulled the plug on Aibo 12 years ago, drawing an outcry from global fans.
The improved Aibo has more natural looking eyes, thanks to advanced organic lightemitting diodes. It can cock its head and sway its hips at more varied, subtle angles.
Sony says its “heart”, more aptly its brain, is in an Internet “cloud” service that serves as Aibo’s memory. In theory, it could, in time, develop its canine artificial intelligence.
Aibo has a high-pitched electronic “bark”. Like the original model, it responds to a pink ball and a plastic bone, to voices and to petting.
It can crouch on its belly, strut around and wag its tail, and do tricks like picking up the plastic bone with its mouth or lifting its paws. It seems to pant with joy when petted and can perk an ear like it is listening.
Sony’s Yusuke Kozuka said given recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, the time seemed right for a new Aibo.
Qoobo (pronounced koo-boh)
A fuzzy, huggable cushion with a whimsically swishy tail, Qoobo is designed to deliver a calming therapeutic effect for the cat lover who cannot have a real kitty.
This companion robot is ingenuous in its simplicity – much is purposely left to the imagination: It has no face or whiskers, no legs and no purr, just a responsive tail that wags slowly when it is gently stroked and energetically when it is tapped, so it could be a dog.
“Some say this reflects the Japanese cultural ability to appreciate negative space in art,” said Tsubasa Tominaga of Tokyo-based Yukai Engineering, which designed Qoobo.
He said Japanese prefer to interact with cute things, not digital assistants on impersonal gadgets, as Apple does with Siri and Amazon with Alexa. — AP