Toyota launches $400 Kirobo Mini robot companion in Japan
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Toyota pitches tiny talking robot as companion for lonely people
A new robot for lonely people made by Toyota Motor Corp. can do little other than chatter in a high-pitched voice.The ¥39,800, 10-cm-tall, doll-like Kirobo Mini — whose name comes from kibo (hope) and robot — supposedly has the smarts of a 5-year-old.Its value, according to general manager in charge of the project Fuminori Kataoka, is chiefly emotional.
Toyota hopes its mini robot will be a friend to lonely people
A robot has been unveiled by Japanese carmaker Toyota that could provide companionship for lonely people.The Kirobo Mini may even have a role as a baby substitute in Japan, where falling birth rates have left many women childless.The doe-eyed robot is just four inches tall, speaks in a high-pitched baby voice, and will go on sale in Japan for £300.
Toyota rolling out $400 mug-sized talking robot
TOKYO: Toyota said Monday it will start selling a mug-sized robot called Kirobo Mini as a chatty companion for its human owners.The 10 centimetre (four inch) tall robot will go on sale next year in Japan for 39,800 yen ($400) after a bigger version of the doe-eyed Kirobo -- roughly the size of a chihuahua -- became the first android to converse with an astronaut in space.Toyota is usually associated with cars, but it has been investing millions in robotics and Kirobo is its first commercial foray into the sector.