Robi, a humanoid robot that can chat and control your TV, will be available in Hong Kong later this month, its fifth market after Japan, Italy, Taiwan and the U.K.
Standing 34-centimeters tall, the one-kilogram Robi was created by Japanese inventor Tomotaka Takahashi. Robi’s eyes light up and change colors to show emotions when it interacts with humans. With a bunch of sensors, Robi can dance to the rhythm of the music, play football and even clean the dirty floor.
Takahashi, a big fan of robot comics, said he always wanted to make his own robot when he was a kid.
“To me, robot is my friend and he has life. I hope to foster a close relationship between robots and human beings,” said Takahashi, who is a research associate professor with the University of Tokyo.
He said Robi could also assist in the kitchen by keeping track of cooking time. The infrared transmitter on Robi’s body allows it to also switch the television on and off or change channels without using a remote control.
Takahashi claims Robi takes more than 250 commands and Hong Kong’s version would speak Cantonese. For other markets, there are also localized versions that speak Japanese, English, Italian and Mandarin.
But robot fans have to be patient as they have to buy all 70 issues of a weekly magazine that comes with the parts to assemble a Robi, according to Italian publisher De Agostini.
The magazine publisher plans to bring Robi to the U.S. and other European markets later but it has no definite timetable for the new markets yet, said Yujin Kimura, a product manager at De Agostini .
De Agostini has started selling the weekly magazine that includes parts for Robi in Japan since February 2012 but the company declined to disclose the total sales worldwide.
Robi’s sales have been doing well, said Takahashi, who receives royalties from De Agostini based on the sales.
The robot creator has also worked with Panasonic, Toyota and Japan’s International Space Station on some robotic projects such as Kirobo, a robot that engages in conversations with Japanese astronaut.
Despite being approached by many venture capital investors, Takahashi said he wants to remain an independent inventor.
“I don’t need so much money as I just want to make something cool. All I need is a small laboratory and some tools that can turn my ideas into prototypes,” said Takahashi.