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| Nicobo .. Panasonic's mood-changing robot |
Robotics researchers from Panasonic and Michio Oka Lab of the Toyohashi Institute of Technology at Toyohashi University of Technology have developed the Nicobo robot, which offers many of the features you'd expect from this device.
Nicobo robot can recognize the face of the camera, hear your voice through its directional microphone and respond to it. He has a touch sensitivity so he knows when to touch or hug him.
The robot also has some strange features because it is prone to gas and bad mood, so it sometimes does not respond much.
Sometimes the talking robot starts without you and you don't want it to follow you around the room because Nikobo isn't moving and its only movement is to turn around, shake its head and tail, and look up and down.
Nikobo has a limited vocabulary. He only knew one word at first, but was able to pronounce complete Japanese sentences as a child.
The robots won't be easy to buy in the near future, as Panasonic plans to only produce 320 robots in the first production process and has already sold them out in about six hours via initial order via the financing platform.
Panasonic plans to ship the robot to customers in March 2022, and the company is selling Nicobo for about $ 360.
After the first six months, users fortunate enough to fulfill the original requirements will have to pay around $ 10 a month to take advantage of the following features: pairing and smartphone update.
If there is enough interest, Panasonic can increase production and build more Nicobo robots.