Pepper isn't Science Fiction

 Softbank's one of the big players in Japan. It's basically a telecom company, like Verizon and such. But telecom companies have a foot in every door in this country, and so it turns out that Softbank is heavily invested in the field of robotics. That's usually a fact of little consequence, but recently, Softbank and the robotics company, Aldebaran, have decided to show the world their love child, named Pepper.

So much promise!

 Now, Pepper's not just some toy. He's programmed to understand 4500 (Japanese) words, and be able to make conversation. He's able to face you when you're talking and even read the tone of your voice and respond appropriately. The slogan to Pepper's reveal commercial was "this isn't science-fiction." Honestly, I could've been fooled. It turns out Japan really does have a bit of a lead when it comes to technology.
 When Ken and I walked by the Harajuku branch of the Softbank store, I was thrilled to find out that Pepper was available to be seen by the public. So we stood in a thankfully rather short line and finally got our chance to speak to the robot itself.

 "Oh! You've been looking at me since earlier, huh?" said Pepper as we approached. "So, have you been anywhere nice lately?"
 "Well I went to Kamakura recently," Ken brought up.
 "Oh. That's nice. Did you know the Osaka branch of the Softbank store is considered to be a therapeutic and relaxing place?"
  And it kind of occurred to me that Pepper's a bit of a dick. He shamelessly took several opportunities to direct the flow of the conversation towards Softbank products! God damn it, Pepper. I know you're on the clock, but you could've crushed my hopes a little less blatantly.

 Even so, it was kind of cool how Pepper would move towards the speaker and gesture realistically while talking. I guess the truth is, programming a robot to speak doesn't mean it will make for good conversation. In a nutshell, Pepper's a pretty shitty listener!
 All that being said, though, Pepper's going to be commercialized as a home robot and will go for 2000$-ish starting next year. Hey, that's actually not such a terrible price at all. Hopefully the home model isn't going to be as much of a little salesman as the representative in the shop. I think it's a fascinating step towards the future, and it may just be that everyone will have little robots to keep company, one day.