This robot can supposedly read your emotions


The creators of a robot named Pepper claim it can read your emotions. And at least 1,000 people in Japan were curious enough to find out, because Softbank's four-foot-tall humanoid sold out in one minute flat Saturday, UPI reports.
Iframe Code
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Pepper can learn, converse, interpret, and respond to a range of emotions (including joy and anger), and develop its own personality tailored to its owners, Newsweek reports.
One thousand robots will go on sale each month in Japan for the low, low price of about $1,600. It may go on sale overseas next year, but if you're lonely, you're probably better off forking over $5 for that cat from the shelter.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBS
Cartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza
In Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
Secret AI experiment on Reddit accused of ethical violations
In the Spotlight Critics say the researchers flouted experimental ethics
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellites
Speed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Space-age living: The race for robot servants
Feature Meta and Apple compete to bring humanoid robots to market
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
-
TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms
Speed Read The popular app is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday
-
Appeals court kills FCC net neutrality rule
Speed Read A U.S. appeals court blocked Biden's effort to restore net-neutrality rules