NEC :: PAPERO :: The Times Robot to counsel families


FROM ROBERT WHYMANT IN TOKYO


A TALKING robot clever enough to heal family rifts may sound like science fiction. But the makers of PaPeRo — Partner-type Personal Robot — claim that it can smooth things out when families are no longer on speaking terms.

NEC, the electronics firm, showed the machine’s peacemaking potential yesterday. With its cute, round head and big eyes, PaPeRo stands a mere 15in and weighs 11lb. Yet stuffed into the automaton are two digital cameras, four microphones, five sensors and a motor that lets it move. It can utter 3,000 phrases, recognise 650 expressions and responds depending on the speaker. That would enable it, for example, to act as a go-between for a sulking child and its parents.

There are no plans to market the robot and no price set. Ten families are testing it so improvements can be made.