Humanoid robot Pepper is amusing, but is it practical?

My vote is for NOT being practical.

Amazon and others have already taken the lead in this.

Only two more years until 2019 when Blade Runner was set. It was a believable future back in the the early 80s. Instead of that we have Pepper. I would never have thought this would be it.

Moonraker: Only two more years until 2019 when Blade Runner was set.

Going by science fiction of the 20th century, we should have been living in orbit, on the moon, and amongst the planets and asteroids long since :( ...

I think some of it (re robotics) has been the stop-start nature of commercial robotics research where no clear payout was immediately available from various projects, and also patent lockup of various technologies (the 'patent' part was told to me by a holder of some of these patents, when I asked him 'why no progress? where's the Terminator?').

Androids will remain impractical for another few years due to hardware issues, meaning robots like the LoweBot will be the first to find application - but as the software (couple it with Google Translate!) and the hardware come together, we're headed towards an exciting next decade.

A few years ago I accidentally "broke" a Pepper in a shopping mall in Osaka, by addressing it in English instead of Japanese. Seems things have come a long way since then.

Not only impractical, but annoying as hell. When I was buying a product at a shop a couple of weeks back with a Pepper stationed in the entrance, I had to hear it droning on and on for about half an hour while the staff dealt with things. I know one of the staff (one of the reasons I chose that store) and I asked her a few days later what they thought about Pepper, and they said they all hate it.

Kids tend to break Pepper's fingers out of excitement.

I've seen a high tech gift store uncrate one in Santa Monica ... I hope it survives.

Humanoid robot Pepper is amusing, but is it practical?

As practical as a tablet on wheels.

No!!!!!

I'd rather get a dog then Pepper.