Page 27 - The EDIT | Q1 2017

Discovery iPal, the social robot for kids aged 3 to 8 years old
At a demo area inside the Sands Expo Center, iPal could be seen belting out hits from Frozen. The social robot, created by Avatarmind, can play games, tell stories, dance and engage in video chat. It can also receive touch responses, recognize emotions and provide trivia answers. The Guardian, speaking with Avatarmind founder Jiping Wang back in September, said tests in China have shown iPal can entertain children “for hours,” with 80 percent “loving it,”
15 percent having no reaction and 5 percent are, unfortunately, scared.
In-store personal shopper robots
These nimble helpers follow shoppers and monitor (and then process) their purchases, which tie into loyalty programs. They can also direct shoppers to specific items in store and can recommend items users may need based on what they have at home or what they’ve bought in the past.
As they’re self powered they also follow shoppers out to their cars and then put themselves away.
Kirobi Mini, a pocket sized companion and advisor
Robots are particularly developing in Japan. The need for companion robots is particularly acute as birth rates have dropped to a historic low — there aren’t enough young people to take care of the aging.
These robots play an incredibly important role in the everyday lives of people: reminding them of their medication, keeping an eye on their overall health and just generally keeping them on track and happy.
A super cute Alexa bot on wheels
One of many types of personal assistant robots at the show, Japan leading robot development to address social challenges.
We have seen a whole fleet of cute and mobile robots like Omate / Yumi. These guys are the next version of the desk bound bots seen last year at CES (Jibo). Now they are mobile AND immeasurably smarter with the injection of Alexa AI. These rolling AI’s act as super cute personal assistants, keeping professionals and families on track.
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BY TOYOTA
THE EDIT ISSUE 05 | Q1 2017