Android pets easing virus isolation

Nami Hamaura says she feels less lonely working from home thanks to her singing companion Charlie, one of a new generation of cute and clever Japanese robots whose sales are booming in the pandemic.

Smart home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa have found success worldwide, but tech firms in Japan are reporting huge demand for more humanlike alternatives, as people seek solace during coronavirus isolation.

“I felt my circle became very small,” said Hamaura, a recent graduate who has worked remotely since April 2020.

With socialising limited, life in her first job at a Tokyo trading company was nothing like she had imagined.

So she adopted Charlie, a mugsized robot with a round head, red nose and flashing bow-tie, who converses with its owner in song.

Yamaha, which makes Charlie, describes it as “more chatty than a pet, but less work than a lover”.

“He is there for me to chat with as someone other than family, or friends on social networks, or a boss I needed to produce a report for,” said Hamaura.

She is a pre-launch test customer for Charlie, which Yamaha plans to release later this year.

Technology firm Sharp said sales of its small humanoid Robohon were up 30% in the three months to September 2020 compared with a year earlier.

“Not only families with children, but also seniors in their 60s and 70s” are snapping up Robohon, which talks, dances and is also a working phone, said a Sharp spokesman.

But the adorable android – first released in 2016 and only available in Japan – does not come cheap, with regular models priced between $820 (about R12 000) and $2 250.

Charlie and Robohon are part of a new wave of robot companions pioneered by firms such as Sony with its robot dog Aibo, on sale since 1999, and SoftBank’s friendly Pepper, which hit shelves in 2015.

“Many Japanese people accept the idea that every object has a soul,” said Shunsuke Aoki, chief executive officer of robot firm Yukai Engineering.

“They want a robot to have a character, like a friend, family or a pet – not a mechanical function like a dishwasher.”

Yukai’s robots include Qoobo, a fluffy pillow with a mechanical tail that wiggles like a real pet.

They will soon release their latest home assistant “Bocco emo”, which looks like a miniature snowman and allows families to leave and send voice messages through their phones.

Kaori Takahashi bought a Yukai robot-building kit for her six-year-old son to keep him occupied during the pandemic.

Robots feel normal in everyday life because they are in so many Japanese children’s films and cartoons, she said.