8 Universal Services Short term
TV Companion Robot on Various Devices
An easy way to experience watching TV with a robot
Outline
STRL is researching robots that chat with humans and express emotions to make watching TV even more enjoyable. So that more people can easily experience watching TV with a robot, STRL has developed a robot app that operates on a smartphone or PC.
Operates on various devices
STRL has developed a new software robot as a web application, which behaves the same as the existing hardware robot.
Natural utterances relating to content of TV programs
The robot chat with users while watching TV. The robot has been trained using the type of sentences people often say while viewing TV, so it can now produce more natural utterances.
Expressing emotions
The robot expresses emotions like enjoyment or sadness by moving its head and limbs. STRL is investigating ways for the robot to convey emotions even when it is watching TV with its back to the human, such as incorporating tail movements.
[Future plans]
As well as making improvements so that the robot’s behavior takes the user’s interests and the situation of the TV program into account, STRL will establish the basic technology for TV Companion Robots to bring enjoyment to users, including verifying how effective they are in a home environment by around 2025.