Innovation of the week: A sensitive robot

Meet "Pepper"

Innovation of the week: A sensitive robot
(Image credit: Facebook.com/SoftBank)

Japanese telecom SoftBank has a new robot that it claims can recognize human emotion thanks to technology that allows it to "communicate through emotion, speech, or body language." Pepper is also equipped with microphones and proximity sensors, and will use cloud-based computing to share data to improve their emotion-recognition functions. Pepper, which is now serving customers at SoftBank stores in Tokyo, will go on sale to the public next year for about $2,000. The robots could someday act as babysitters, nurses, and emergency medical personnel.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More