Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank has developed a new ‘humanoid’ robot known as ‘Pepper’ with some objectives, the robot can be used for various tasks like babysitting, storekeeping, etc. Pepper is the first humanoid robot that is capable of identifying human emotions and accepting his/her behavior to the mood of his/her communication.
- Pepper is 120 centimeters tall and weighs about 28 kg (62 lb.).
- For providing enough charge to keep the machine working for up to 12 hours, pepper is equipped with a Li-Ion battery (Lithium-Ion battery 30.0Ah/795Wh).
- The Pepper has two arms and wheels are attached to its base which aids the Pepper to moves by rolling over it.
- To enable identification of objects, Pepper is equipped with various Audio Video (AV) and tactile sensors.
- A touch-screen with 10 inches display is fitted on the robot’s chest which is specifically designed for human interaction through voice commands and gestures.
- On the Pepper’s head, there are four microphones and two HD cameras (in mouth and forehead) are fitted.
- Behind the eyes, there is a 3D depth sensor equipped.
- Touch sensors are equipped with head and hands and Gyroscope is attached to the torso.
Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank said that “We want to have a robot that will maximize the people’s joy and minimize their sadness.”
According to Son, Pepper is the world’s first robot that has capabilities of human emotions sensing. This Pepper robot senses feelings with the help of Voice Recognition technology and proprietary algorithms that are capable of studying what people are actually feeling.
Son said, “Our vision is to create lovable robots that can understand people’s emotions and then autonomously take action so that the joy of family will become as the happiness for the robot.“
Pepper is more than a robot. He is a genuine humanoid friend developed for communicating with you through his voice in the most intuitive and natural way. Pepper is not a functional robot for domestic use. Instead is designed for people to make them happy, enhancing lives, maintaining relationships and connect them to the outside world.
Peppers currently serve as receptionists in some U.K. offices and in Japanese banks, restaurants and health care facilities.