Robot girlfriend for lonely men
2008-06-17 09:12
Tokyo - She is big-busted, petite,
very friendly, and she runs on batteries.
A Japanese firm has produced a 38cm tall robotic
girlfriend that kisses on command, to go on sale in September
for around $175 (about R1 400), with a target market of lonely adult men.
Using her infrared sensors and battery power, the
diminutive damsel named "EMA" puckers up for nearby human
heads, entering what designers call its "love mode".
"Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often
associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype
and provide a robot that's sweet and interactive," said Minako
Sakanoue, a spokesperson for the maker, Sega Toys.
"She's very lovable and though she's not a human, she can
act like a real girlfriend."
EMA, with stands for Eternal Maiden Actualisation, can also
hand out business cards, sing and dance, with Sega hoping to
sell 10 000 in the first year.
Japan, home to almost half the world's 800 000 industrial
robots, envisions a $10bn market for artificial
intelligence in a decade.