Need a Hug? Meet Pepper, the Robot Friend

Last Friday, the Japanese company SoftBank launched its innovative robot, Pepper, selling it for $1,600 per unit. Pepper is no ordinary robot; it doesn’t mop floors or vacuum the house. Instead, it’s designed as an 'emotional robot' that interacts with humans both verbally and physically.

"Pepper is much more than a robot - it’s a friend capable of communicating through the most sensitive interfaces we know: voice, touch, and emotions," explain the robot’s developers. "If you start laughing, Pepper will know you're in a good mood. If you frown, it will understand something is bothering you."

Pepper can also mirror emotions and even display feelings of its own - like showing loneliness if you ignore it.

Pepper hugging a child

Standing at about 120 centimeters tall, Pepper has a battery life of 14 hours. Its software is open source, and you can download more than 200 apps for this emotional companion. You can even teach it to take photos, understand different languages, and help with household tasks. But its primary goal is human interaction, as the developers state: "We aim to create robots for the welfare of humankind – friendly robots that live with humans as a new artificial breed."

In short, forget the dog that sheds hair all over your furniture or the cat that turns its back on you. Forget the need for sympathetic human company - who has time for that in our busy age? The solution to human loneliness undoubtedly lies in advanced technology: pay $1,600, and you’ll never feel lonely again!

If you've been convinced and decided to buy a Pepper for yourself, however, you’ll have to wait. According to SoftBank, all 1,000 units released on Friday were sold out in less than a minute. The next sales dates will be announced next month.