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Pepper, a humanoid robot developed by SoftBank, has an emotion recognition function that detects human emotions by analyzing a person’s facial expressions and voice tones. You can communicate with this robot as if you were talking to your friends or family. In the near future, robots will be active in a range of fields and may even live alongside humans, just like in science-fiction films.

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Only 1,000 models were available for the consumer launch on Saturday in Japan. The base price was set at ¥198,000 ($1,600) with an additional ¥24,600 ($200) monthly data and insurance fees.

The world's first emotional robot

Standing just under four feet tall, and weighing 61 pounds, Pepper is designed to read emotions as well as recognize tones of voice and facial expressions in order to interact with humans. But most of all, "he tries to make you happy," Kaname Hayashi, Softbank's project manager, told CNN last year.

With his array of cameras, touch sensors, accelerometer and other sensors in his "endocrine-type multi-layer neural network," Pepper has the ability to read your emotions as well as develop his own. He isn't a work robot, but more of an emotional companion for people.

Pepper has his own evolving emotions which "are influenced by people's facial expressions and words, as well as his surroundings," according to SoftBank. "Pepper is at ease when he is with people he knows, happy when praised and scared when the lights go down."

Developers admit that the robot may make mistakes, but says Pepper will learn and grow over time through his own emotional engine and collective wisdom gained through collected cloud data.

Pepper currently has the ability to speak English, French, Japanese and Spanish. In the next few months, there will be more language releases in its app store, which already has around 200 apps.

The business side of Pepper

Two days prior to Peppers initial limited release, SoftBank announced a new partnership with the Apple manufacturer Foxconn and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which each agreed to invest ¥14.5 billion (over $118 million) for 20 percent shares in SoftBank Robotics Holding. SoftBank envisions Pepper as a first step in spreading robotics worldwide.

Softbank is willing to sell Pepper at a loss for the first four years, but expect the robot to bring in profits by the fifth year and become a major force in revenues 20 to 30 years in the future. Company officials stated that they want to keep Pepper affordable, and compared the price of the robot to that of a pet dog in Japan, according to a press event held last week.

SoftBank also plans to launch "Pepper for Biz" in the fall, making the robot available for businesses and will announce details in July. Pepper has already been used to sell Nestle coffee machines in Japanese stores.

Interested in buying your own Pepper robot? SoftBank will be releasing information about additional sales on their website in July.

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'Pepper' the emotional robot, sells out within a minute - CNN

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Only 1,000 models were available for the consumer launch on Saturday in Japan. The base price was set at ¥198,000 ($1,600) with an additional ¥24,600 ($200) monthly data and insurance fees. The world's first emotional robot Standing just under four feet tall, and weighing 61 pounds, Pepper is designed to read emotions as well as recognize tones of voice and facial expressions in order to interact with humans.

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An example is Japan’s success in using robots to reduce costs in the car industry.
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Manufacturing is one of Japan's strengths, but the country has few natural resources. One common pattern is for Japanese companies to import raw materials and then process them to make finished products, which are sold domestically or exported.

One of the most promising fields for future economic growth is robotics, in which Japanese technology leads the world.

Answer the following question :

How does robotic manufacturing benefit large corporations and how does it affect Japanese citizens in a positive and negative way.

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Ironically, how did the scarcity of natural resources in Japan contribute to their economic and technological success?

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Shinkansen, or bullet trains, are express trains that travel at top speeds of 250 to 300 kilometers per hour. The Shinkansen network is a convenient way to travel around Japan. The Shinkansen is considered one of the fastest and safest railroad systems in the world. In 2012, a new model, N700A, made its debut, equipped with an automatic operating mechanism and a new type of brakes. In addition, successful test runs have been held on Maglev trains that can operate at speeds of more than 500 kilometers per hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpRqlehZ0X8

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Japan is the second largest importer of fossil fuels in the world. But the 4th largest exporter and has managed to have one of largest economy in the world!

Visit the following links and list at least 3 natural resources they import and 3 of the products they export (what are some of the  most successful industries).

http://www.gatewaytojapan.org/the-japanese-economy/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/japan/#japan-gardens.jpg

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2111.html

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Population: 126.8 million
Population density: 868 people per square mile.
Government: Constituational Monarchy - Emperor

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One fifth of the population of Japan is elderly. Japan is believed to have largest elderly population in the world.

Read the article "Japan looks to a Robot Future"  and answer the following questions:

1.What might be a reason why Japanese corporations would prefer to use robots in the work force instead of human skilled workers?

2.How might having robots in jobs especially in the car industry increase productivity?

3. What are some pros and cons on having robots becoming employees or contributing members of the society?

4. According the article what is the main reason a “robotic future” has not taken off as they expected?

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President Obama testing out Japanese technology. 

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President Obama testing out Japanese technology. 

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After a day of meetings during the APEC Summit in Japan, President Obama was able to take a small break and enjoy some of the nation's technology. Mr. Obama was introduced to a robot that mimics humans, animatronic seal pups and a motorized personal vehicle.