Japanese Robotic Startup Groove X Unveils Its First Robot

In the latest development by Groove X, a Japan-based startup started by an alumni of SoftBank Group Corp’s robotics unit has announced the company’s first robot creation. The announcement was made public on Tuesday.

Dubbed as the Lovot, the robot is exclusively designed to make users happy. It uses AI to communicate with the environment in squeaks and it is equipped with a wheelchair. The robot looks like a penguin with cartoonish human eyes. The outfits of the robot can be changed with time.

Lovot mimics affection for users who show it kindness by becoming warm to the touch, going to sleep when it’s cuddled or following users when called.

In reality, Lovot can carry out simple tasks such as monitoring a baby or looking after a house via camera, and users can access it from their smartphones while they are out.

The industrial robotics market in Japan is already booming, Groove X is working hard to expand the fledgling market for household robots. The company has raised fundings from investors like Toyota Motor Corp-backed fund, Japanese govt. and chat app operator Line Corp.

The latest robot has competitors like Sony Corp’s AI-powered robot dog Aibo. 

SoftBank’s another humanoid Pepper robot failed to capture customer’s attention in the market since its launch.

Recently, the company has increased its focus on building more practical robots. The company rolled out a self-driving cleaning machine which utilizes technology from portfolio company U.S. based Brain Corp.

Lovot is priced at 349,000 yen ($3,100) and its units will start shipping in late 2019.