Panasonic has announced a new project in development, called NICOBO.
NICOBO is a companion robot with a strong personality. It even talks and farts in its sleep.
The little gray robot will gaze at you, blink its eyes, and wag its tail. Almost like a cat, it makes you want to ask, “What’s up? What do you want?”
You can talk with NICOBO and he’ll respond with his own language called MOCO, or parrot your Japanese.
When you think of Panasonic, you probably think of home appliances. Panasonic continues to develop products to make people’s lives more convenient.
“But what about people’s hearts?” questions Project Leader Yoichiro Masuda. “I wonder if the speed of information and development of communication tools have made human relationships more diverse, at the cost of losing a bit of space in our minds,” he contemplates.
In coordination with Panasonic, NICOBO and the concept of a “weak robot” was developed by Professor Okada of Toyohashi University of Technology.
NICOBO is basically helpless. She can’t move on her own, so she needs to be cared for. But that doesn’t mean she’s always happy to have you around.
NICOBO will wag her tail and coo gently if you pet her or hold her in your arms. But there are also times when NICOBO will sulk and turn away to get your attention.
“The intention behind a “weak robot” like NICOBO is to create a robot that will unintentionally draw people to help it. To create a robot that can cheer someone up and make them smile.”
Specifications
NICOBO has sensors to detect when it’s being petted or held.
It likes to sunbathe and reacts to strong light.
It’s equipped with a camera that can recognize human faces.
It has multiple microphones to recognize the direction a sound comes from and to understand spoken words.
It’s battery-powered. It can run for 2-3 hours on a single charge.
It’s nearly spherical in shape with a diameter of about 21-23 cm and weights about 1.2 kg.
It requires a Wi-Fi connection and a smartphone app for IOS/Android.
NICOBO is expected to be available from March for those who crowdfunded the project.
At the time of writing, the campaign has well exceeded its target goal and all rewards have already been taken. Seeing how successful the campaign has been, one can only hope it will go into general production at a later date.
Click here to learn more about this project on Makuake.com.
Read more stories from grape Japan.
-- The adorable duo Little Twin Stars make a doughnut debut in Floresta’s White Day lineup
-- Adorable Kirby sakura sushi is a must-have for a gamer’s cherry blossom picnic this spring
-- Instagram couple designs stylish cutouts and brings their artistic creations to life
- External Link
- https://grapee.jp/en/
11 Comments
Login to comment
Sal Affist
It sounds like a more advanced (and more expensive) version of a tamagotchi, that will hold someone's attention for a month at most, and then collect dust somewhere until it is taken out with the rubbish.
starpunk
This could make a great 'pet' for me, I'm allergic to all furry animals.
didou
Aibo has disappeared
Pepper kun has disappeared
NICOBO will disappear
Unless they are forced, humans have limitations in their acceptance of these pet robots. After playing a bit, nothing better than going back to normal social interactions
Desert Tortoise
Old man Matsushita is rolling over in his grave!
Charlie Sommers
I live in a home with four flatulent cats and I myself pass gas quite frequently. I fail to see how a farting robot would bring any additional joy to my life.
garypen
Crowdfunding is the only way a small startup with limited resources like PANASONIC will be able to get this off the ground.
Desert Tortoise
How about making a trash talking robot vacuum?
A.M.
the voice is very annoying and it's response time is very slow. Also, Panasonic is a big company. I have never seen Apple or Google doing crowdfunding.
snowymountainhell
Great product for the elderly and the infirmed! - Once again, wasn’t Your idea. So, you you want to dismiss it without a reasonable comment. Is there anything Asian people can think, do, produce that’s ok with You, @8:34a ? - (to poo-poo; is to ridicule without substance: - a fallacy in logic that consists of dismissing an argument as being unworthy of serious consideration.)
Ah_so
Why the crowd funding? Sounds more like a gimmick.
dagon
The "killer app" will be when they combine actual functionality, for example using GPT-3 natural language learning, and this cuteness.