14 DAY TRIAL // The Japanese talking robot “Kirobo” has successfully finished its trip to the International Space Station.
The small robot was sent aboard a supply ship launched from Tanegashima Space Center a week ago, RT reports.
Kirobo comes with voice and facial-recognition technology and can freely talk to anyone who speaks Japanese. The 34cm tall robot has already met its first friend, namely Koichi Wakata, a Japanese astronaut that is set to arrive on the ISS in November.
According to the robot’s developers, Kirobo will remember Wakata and recognize him when they reunite in space.
Kirobo is the result of a collaboration between Toyota, Dentsu, a Japanese advertising company and Tomotaka Takahashi from the University of Tokyo’s Research Center of Advanced Science and Technology.
The name of the robot comes from the two Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”.