Sharp RoboHon: the smartphone robot becomes reality
Sharp announces launch date and price RoboHon, the final result of the idea to create a robot that can perform most of the functions of a smartphone. It will cost more than €1600 and will be available starting from May 26 in Japan.
Many years ago, when the smartphone product was not yet well defined, it was in vogue the term ” convergence ” refers to PDAs and mobile phones. Modern smartphones are born by enclosing in a single device the functions of the two categories of products.
Times change and also change the hi-tech devices, must not surprising that some companies apply the concept of convergence to new categories of products. Sharp offers one example, in some extreme aspects, the modern concept of convergence with RoboHon, a mini robot that can perform the functions of a smartphone.
https://youtu.be/K2Z5YIZ24yI
RoboHon was announced in the fall of 2015, met with a certain, understandable skepticism about the ability of the project go through. The company today held an event at the headquarters in Tokyo, in which were formalized the details of the impending deployment.
RoboHon reach the Japanese market in late May, distributed in partnership with the telephone operator NTT Docomo (the robot is equipped with LTE connectivity).
To avoid any misunderstandings RoboHon is also a smartphone (not just a mobile) as the software platform is based on the Android operating system. Of course, it is certainly not the software to capture the attention, as the idea – crazy, original, funny, depending on your point of view – to create a robot-smartphone. The limits are not lacking, so as there are plenty of points of interest.
The interaction with RoboHon is via voice commands or, alternatively, through the small display 2 ” positioned on the back of the robot. The screen is certainly not the priority for Sharp that has aimed to create a device designed to be controlled with the voice and that, in turn, provides relevant information using speech synthesis. The speech recognition algorithms are based on cloud services provided by Nuance, to exploit them, unfortunately, to pay a monthly fee will be required.
Like any good robot, RoboHon has (limited) capacity for locomotion, humanoid features, dimensions that are relatively small – is high about 20 cm – it is a device that, on paper, can be used to make a voice call (how many would be willing to walk around with a small robot ear.
It is another matter) and integrates a camera and a projector in the head. RoboHon trying to be helpful beyond the limits of the gadget, supporting telephony functions, by searching the web, reading by voice messages and other useful information, capturing and projecting pictures.
RoboHon will be available in Japan from May 26th, proposed to 198,000 yen (excluding tax), over 1,600 euro change. Undoubtedly expensive, but, for the moment, the problem does not arise to purchase it for European users.
Sharp has generally confirmed its willingness to expand distribution channels in other markets, but lack details more certain about it. The curious can take a look at the rich collection of official videos that Sharp has published in the official YouTube channel and connecting to the official website.
