Meet Kirobo Mini, Toyota's adorable new companion robot
The new robot from Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. can't do much but chatter in a high-pitched voice.But the $390, 4-inch-tall, doll-like Kirobo Mini — whose name comes from "kibo," or "hope," and "robot" — supposedly has the smarts of a 5-year-old.Fuminori Kataoka, general manager in charge of the project, says its value is emotional, going from home to car to the outdoors as a faithful companion, although the owner must do all the walking and driving.
Toyota's Kirobo Mini companion robot goes on sale for $400 next year
If you're tired of lonely drives and pine for a 10cm-tall companion that could sit in your Prius' cup holder, well, does Toyota ever have the product for you.The world's biggest car company will sell its Kirobo Mini robot, first announced at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, sometime in 2017 for 39,800 yen in Japan — about $400.It's a smaller version of Kirobo, the robot that Toyota joint-developed and sent into space in 2013 alongside Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to command the International Space Station.
