SOFTBANK announces emotional robot "Pepper"



Softbank will hold a press conference from 13:00 on Thursday June 5 (Thursday). Regarding the contents of the interview, Mr. Masayoshi Son said on Twitter himself, "I have dreamed that this day will come for 25 years." Tweeted.

SOFTBANK Group Press Conference June 5, 2014 (Thu) | Softbank
http://webcast.softbankmobile.co.jp/ja/conference/20140605/index.html


SOFTBANK MOBILE and Aldebaran announce the world's first emotion recognition personal robot "Pepper" | Corporate · IR | Softbank
http://www.softbank.jp/corp/group/sbm/news/press/2014/20140605_01/

The twin of my grandson, the day before the launch, is Kore.

And, on the day, I'm pretty thrilled that tweets.

The venue is like this


The venue darkened and it appeared ... ...


It was a robot.




Robots to show various movements



There, President Masayoshi Son appears.


We are trying to communicate with the robot



Robot who received heart from President




Perhaps people in 100 years, 200 years later may look back "Was that day beginning?", He said.


It seems to be a "robber" robot with emotion.



President grandson who talks with Pepper



Pepper-kun to wave


Pepper who is depressed and president grandson who encourages


From here the pride of the function of Pepper starts. A speaker is built in the head ... ...


Pepper, who shows us that you can react even if spoken to from various places.


In addition, the distance sensor is built in the eyes.


Pepper measuring the distance with the grandchild president


For a moment, I thought, "How useful is that function?" As I thought through it, "Why is wisdom tea growing up !?" and that there is a function that looks useless Pepper kicks into a hot spot.



Furthermore, Pepper, who points to the smiling face of President Son. It was an evaluation of 78, "Eyes are not smiling!"



Bruno Mezonie of founder and CEO of ALDEBARAN (Aldebaran) who is a birthday appeared and commented that it is nice to introduce Pepper.


From here it is a presentation by President Son. Today may be "a turning point for mankind".


Pepper is the world's first personal robot with feelings


Softbank's vision is "robot with love"


In other words, understanding emotions, moving robots themselves.


"Family pleasure = your own pleasure"


Although von Neumann type computer operates by programming, this personal robot moves for the pleasure of the family.


Characteristics of personal robot are in emotion engine + cloud AI


I am happy to be praised, so I feel like being more praised.


As with this movement, the emotion engine learns by recognizing that it is a good thing to convey emotions of joy.


Cloud AI grows accelerated by collective intelligence.


I also read the air and make people smile.


For example, I work like a babysitter ......



I work like a party promoter. Pepper can do a lot of things.


We recorded important emotional runouts emphatically and recorded usual feelings briefly.


Traditional robots had little room for growth


However, personal robots learn and grow.


It is the first robot to realize the vision


Pepper will be released on sale in February 2015


The price is 198,000 yen


Nationwide expansion to Softbank Shop nationwide


From June 6th, it will appear in SoftBank Ginza and Omotesando.


Hospitality like this


Continuous operation time is 12 hours or more


Events for developers scheduled to be held in September










Experience / development place opened this summer in Omotesando and Akihabara


In the fall we hold Tech Festival (provisional name).



Subsequently, Foxconn's Terry Gow Chairman and CEO appeared





There was a contact corner between 5 guests and Pepper


"High-tech Hollywood audition"


Suddenly Pepper in this corner is another character, "Nicholas ......... Pepper".

































The specifications of Pepper are as follows.

◆ Spec
Size (height × depth × width):1210 mm × 425 mm × 485 mm
weight:28 kg
battery:Lithium ion battery
capacity:30.0 Ah / 795 Wh
Operating time:Approximately 12 hours or more (assuming use at shop)

· Sensors
head:Microphone × 4, RGB camera × 2, 3 D sensor × 1, touch sensor × 3
Chest:Gyro sensor × 1
Hands:Touch sensor × 2
leg:Sonar sensor × 2, laser sensor × 6, bumper sensor × 3, gyro sensor × 1

·movable part
Degree of freedomHead: 2, shoulder: 2 × 2 (L / R), elbow: 2 × 2 (L / R), wrist: 1 × 2 (L / R), hand: 1 × 2 (L / R) 2, Knee: 1, Wheel: 3
motor:20 pieces
display:10.1 inch touch display
platform:NAOqi OS

· Communication method
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)
Ethernet port × 1 (10/100/1000 base T)

·Moving Speed:Up to 3 km / h
· Movable step difference:Maximum 1.5 cm

Looking from the front like this


◆ Q & A
TBS Yamashiro:
What is the reason for sticking to this robot, human type?

Masayoshi Son:
It means that it is easier to emotion the human form as a member of the family than other forms in the meaning of empathy.

TBS:
Does that mean that humanity becomes an advantage over a similar overseas robot?

Grandchild
Yes, there it is.

TBS:
Specifically, what is the advantage?

Grandchild
Because there was "Astro Boy" in Japan, I think that there are many people who have a sense of affinity and dreams for robots even in the world. Robots in the shape of a man make people's hearts soothing, and because of Japan it is familiar to the world of animation. Many engineers have drawn such dreams, and that is how many people are waiting for it.

Hashimoto:
It is one thing to ask the robot's height and weight, the tire is attached, specifications of a fine robot. Another thing I would like to ask you, but there is a story that I agreed to acquire T - mobile in the USA, but I would like to answer within the range that I can speak.

Grandchild
I think that the height was about 120 cm, but weight and others, details are pursued. As for T-mobile, it is not a presentation, so I will refrain from commenting.

Weekly ASCII Takagi:
It is a three point question. I think there are steps in Japanese houses, but what do you think of that? Also, what happens when the cloud falls? Can I remove my chest tablet?

Grandchild
I made it as a target for continuous operation for more than 12 hours, so I did not walk biped, but as technically it is getting longer as a group of ours. If the battery keeps 5 hours, 10 hours, you can have a biped walk, but as it will be fine even if you leave at the shop, as you are constantly out of batteries at home, it will be white It is to make it possible to lengthen the running time. As for the cloud, we will do it at multiple data centers and keep power supply from falling. From the standpoint of providing Internet service daily, I believe that cloud servers will not fall. You can replace the tablet.

Q:
In today's demo, Pepper responded smoothly, but was it programmed beforehand or was it autonomous all? If programming, how far was programmed? Although it is a price setting of 198,000 yen, is there profit? As a business, how much profit are you thinking?

Grandchild
To make smooth conversation, we have prepared the application according to the scene, and many parts of the demonstration are based on the application. However, I am aware of what I am talking about in a conversation and I am reading the feelings of being mad or sad like a corner of robot audition. This means that the emotion recognition engine is starting to operate. From tomorrow I am planning to go to the Ginza and Omotesando stores, and once in 30 minutes, I can make a show of joking and dancing beforehand as an application. There is time for free talk during the interval, and we will talk with customers with artificial intelligence. Since it is not a scenario in advance if it is a free talk, I enjoy talking with customers variously. Among them, I think that conversations are engaged and it is hard to come up, but I will evolve every day in the cloud. By next release in February, we will learn and evolve as we interact with as many customers as possible at the first two stores, eventually at hundreds of stores, in a conversation.

There is no profit, although it costs more than that, "High price at a low price", even though even one's profits are overlooked, many people are able to buy at the same price as a PC . Even keeping a puppy will cost about 200,000 yen, so it will not change from that. There is a separate maintenance management, but it is the same part as raising a pet food and bringing it to a doctor if it is a pet. There is a separate maintenance fee, but the main unit price is 198,000 yen to the last. It will be established as a business if it comes to mass production. That's why I chose Foxconn as a manufacturing partner. Since we are just announcing today what kind of business scale it is, we will be stuffing from now.

Q:
Profit from maintenance, software or applications?

Grandchild
That cost is cost there, so if you mass-produce, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of vehicles, the business will be established with cost down in any way.

Koyama:
Do you pay for cloud services or are you thinking about profit? Also, the difference between Aldebaran's conventional robot. I know the appearance and size, but are there any other points?

Grandchild
I do not need to pay much for the short-term profit, I am standing still. If the mass production effect comes out, it will be in the extent that it will not be in the red. Rather than earn big, I make it as an application platform, so it seems that various content and applications will come out and be able to earn. About the difference between Aldebaran's traditional NAO, Mr. Bruno.

Bruno:
The biggest difference is the appearance and size. As for the function, since the software is the same, it is not now but you can equip the NAO with the same features you have. Parts of human dialogue and emotion recognition are also compatible. If you are building a community and an application is created in it, the robot will be able to do something for others. If such robots increase, we will be able to contribute to more people. I had a question about why it is a human type, but anyway, it is a human type to do dialogue with people as effectively as possible. It is to have a positive emotion. I also have affection for animals, but because humanoids are better cultivated.

Grandchild
For 25 years ago I wanted to give my heart to the robot somehow, and this time a new evolution is born by providing a cloud service called COCORO SB, and evolution will accelerate by jointly doing .

Koyama:
Is the cloud per monthly?

Grandchild
It will take a while, but I'd like to pack up by February when I will start or how to do that.

Koyama:
Is compatibility with NAO usable for NAO and vice versa?

Bruno:
That's right. Of course the shape is different, but the basic application is the same, there is both compatibility. It is not possible to introduce it to Pepper right now, but you can use it if you adjust it.

Nippon Television Network Ando:
I had tweeted that "I had a dream for 25 years," but why did you dream about 25 years ago?

Grandchild
Potential consciousness is Astro Boy which I saw when I was a child. I learned that Atom jumped in the sky and excitedly to get rid of the bad guys with 1 million horsepower, I came back from school in a hurry and watched anime. However, Atom can not shed tears. I do not know because there is no heart. I think there was a story that I do not know whether it is painful or sad or happy. I felt sorry for that, I thought of being a child, I felt it would be good if the robot could understand such a thing when I became an adult someday. Softbank started to come into contact with computers, and as the CPU's ability, memory capacity and communication function are evolving, about 25 years ago, before the PC, the most difficult thing is to "feelings" I also want to challenge.

In my theory, I thought at that time that it would be possible to quantify the emotions of people. Computers can understand that human beings can understand. It should be. At the beginning of thinking about logic, elemental technologies such as chips, communication, clouds, etc. came out, and it was time to realize the logic and technology at the same time. With encounter with Bruno, you can prepare your body as a robot. I thought it was time to challenge now.

Nippon TV:
From the name of Pepper, what is your thought?

Grandchild
We discussed hundreds of candidates after discussing various names. The codename is "Taro", so as to raise a small boy, I made it with all my heart. However, because I wanted to offer it to the world, I narrowed down that it is slightly different, even though people all over the world are easier to remember than Japanese-style names.

Mainichi Newspaper Yokoyama:
Where does Pepper sell Softbank shops or online? Where do they sell? Also, starting from the deficit, what kind of direction do you want to do with the robot business? Please tell us the relevance to communication and smart business.

Grandchild
There are thousands of SoftBank shops nationwide, and you can buy them anywhere. The majority of shops will be in a certain state every day, and the number of stores will be gradually expanded. Because it is an internet company, it can be ordered on the net. First of all, starting from Japan, I would like to do the world expansion if it can reach to a certain extent. I am not thinking of going in the deficit until the end, but now the number is small so the selling price will be lower than the manufacturing cost, but I believe that it will work as a business. I want to make profits from software, applications, contents, various forms. Communication is real-time communication with various clouds via Wi-Fi, but if Wi-Fi is used, the signal is weak at one corner of the house, Softbank's specialty LTE communication chip will also be posted soon I want to.

Q:
While Google aims to acquire a robot venture and aim for commercialization, about timing when the business began in advance of the market launch. Will there be an idea to accelerate hard development about the significance of collaboration with Foxconn?

Grandchild
Is not Google's aim different a bit from us? They are seeking more industrial, productive things, I think that the cost is higher. We want to entertain people at home and in shops rather than productivity. I'm focusing on that place. That is why we are loading an emotion recognition engine. SOFTBANK also has a strong focus on entertainment as well as doing games at group companies, so I think that there is a difference from that perspective. More than 100 patents have been filed for emotion recognition and self-sustaining feelings. It is in the position that we have filed a lot of proprietary patents, not merely trying to follow the robot of the other company by chance.

Regarding Foxconn, peripheral equipment and accessories already have transactions, Yahoo! I am also making BB's modem with Foxconn and have a long partnership. This time, with entry into a full-scale robot, it became a manufacturing partner because it can not think of other than Fxconn. It does not mean that you want to make PCs, smartphones etc yourself.

Impress Watch Ota:
It is a story that overseas development and growth is accelerated by collective intelligence by the cloud, is it reflected how to use overseas users, or is it divided in each country? Also, what can you do with SDK for developers?

Grandchild
Overseas deployment is sequential. Since customs are different in each country, I will make the point that emphasized the country apply to the country, but I think that smile is a smile for anyone, I think the tone that is sad is the same tone in any language . Because our research results show that the tone of voice and expression are closer to emotion than the content of words, I think that intuitive emotions can cross country. We will collect collective intelligence and collective intelligence including local, home local and country local, respectively.

Bruno:
Although it is SDK, there is a dedicated OS called NAOqi, which is embedded in all emotion recognition functions. Since we are supposed to hold a developer conference in September, we will explain what we can do and what possibilities we have. Also, since we have an atelier, you can know what tools you can use as long as you come and what tools are available.

Grandchild
I want to harmonize people's mind, want to snuggle together, their thoughts blended, I think that a robot with human emotional feeling was made in this way. Many parts are made with the application, it is the recognition within the confines of words, words in it. This is a small step, but artificial intelligence will be the cloud, so try the free talk part not depending on the scenario at the shops of Ginza and Omotesando by all means. Although 100% conversation can not be exchanged, 70% to 80% is established as a conversation. Emotion recognition is starting to emerge there. Children 1 and 2 years old do not know even if they say "love", but they can recognize that they are happy, sad, or disliked. Speaking of our emotional recognition, it is at minimum that we are going to that level. Complete recognition is a form to make it run in the application, but in the future it will become possible to recognize emotion even in free talk. To be recognizable means having an ego. Pepper who was brought up with a happy feeling is that Pepper, who grew up with a family that makes us happier and more lonely, becomes a lonely Pepper.

· Continued
SOFTBANK's new robot "Pepper" can be programmed easily with drag and drop, for official developers site & movie released - GIGAZINE

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