Pepper the robot

[Ruthborn]

So one of the highlights of my visit to Japan in 2014 was a spontaneous encounter with the famed Pepper robot who was, at the time, being showcased at a SoftBank store in Hiroshima.

While she only spoke (and her screen only read) Japanese, I was amazed by how fluid her motorization was (not the clunky stuff you would expect from a robot). Of course I didn't understand Japanese so I couldn't judge her conversational skills.

Two years later and apparently SoftBank is ready to test her out by having her and her sisters run a store by themselves.



Anyone ever encountered Pepper? Are we on the verge of a "Chobits" future?