For one reason or another, someone decided smartphones should have personalities. iPhones have Siri, Windows phones have Cortana, but these are just pieces of software, and not a physical representation of a personality. This may soon change with Sharp, with help from famous Japanese roboticist [Tomotaka Takahashi], releasing RoBoHoN, the first robotic smartphone.
RoBoHoN is by any measure a miniature humanoid robot; it can walk on two legs, it can wave its arms, and it can fit into excessively large pockets. This robot is also a phone, and inside its cold soulless chassis is a 2.0″ LCD, camera, pico projector to display movies and pictures on flat surfaces, and the electronics to turn this into a modern, mid-range smartphone.
In the video for RoBoHoN, this friendly little phone can do everything from hail a cab, add stuff to a shopping list, and be the life of the party. According to Akihabara News, Sharp should be releasing this tiny robot sometime in early 2016 but no word yet on price.
This could be a game changer. I don’t see how they could make a reasonable price point with everything they showed in the demo. Also the traditional to the ear use needs to be rethought. It looks a little…intimate.
I do think people could adjust to the form factor.
The whole thought reminds me of the legendary Chinese brush monkeys. This could be the first practical personal use of robots.
Correction, ink monkey.
“Also the traditional to the ear use needs to be rethought.” You mean talking into his butt?
It looked kindof like she was speaking to its crotch.
Maybe “talk to the hand”?
Wow. I took me wayyyy too long to figure out that “Android” in the headline meant “Android” and not “Android — Google’s OS for smartphones”.
Completely forgot that android originally meant “humanoid robot”. Derp.
Same here, I clicked the link from twitter thinking it’d be an article about the first Android OS phone.
Except it’s not an android. Androids are designed to pass as humans. This is simply a humanoid robot, and the author of this article should be ashamed. I expected more out of Hackaday and Benchoff is a complete idiot. Rabble rabble I don’t have to put up with this clickbait
Someone get the net, he’s gone 3rd person on us.
I can’t be certain, but you sound a little bitter. Time for a vacation, methinks!
I wasn’t trying to be mean. It was my failure for not remembering what the word meant, not yours.
Someone needs a Snickers bar.
ROFL I totally clicked expecting to be a dick about android OS. TOTALLY happy I read it. This cute little fucker gives me feels. Pity the phone doesn’t dock in their stomach, so they can point to their tummy for phone calls and stuff… They need to integrate a hands free device into it though. Talking into the crotch looks awkward as hell.
its a question of courtesy, perhaps there’s a setting to talk in its ass instead?
I just laughed harder than I have in quite some time because of this comment
yeah that was a catchy headline, more suited for a retrotechtacular! seems more like a click bait!
Makes me think of Chobits, anime from 2002 where plenty of people have persocoms and there are mobile models that are about 4 inches tall. They experience basic emotions, can remember things, provide directions, and be a modem. They didn’t if I’m honest seem that useful but hey :P
Ah yes, Chobits. Where the main character has sexual relations with a sentient humanoid robot he literally found in the trash.
The whole point of the series was that he couldn’t have sex with her.
Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?
Ended too soon to know for sure. Mostly, wouldn’t. I’ll be damned if I don’t do my best to make most of that universe a reality. Persocoms!
Considering where the power switch was, couldn’t.
dont we all?
Good news, there is apparently no restrictions against having sex with this one…
You try to make a phone call only to find your droid’s battery is flat. Suddenly you realize that having it dance all night at your party was a bad idea. Kind of a neat idea though. Not sure about it being my main phone.
I think the best use case for this type of thing would be mainly as a house phone with wireless charging.
Maybe an arm can serve as a crank to charge it up. Or the reverse of push-ups, pushing on it’s back against the desk.
It’s Amazon ECHO with legs.
Long time has past since such an impractical thing was seen.
Is this the “Fail of the week” article?
:o)
The idea is solid, but the tech still can’t quite deliver. What’s great about this little robot is that it can take pictures, display video, and verbally communicate without the need to physically move it. Unfortunately the convenience ends when you need to leave the room. Your only options are to carry it around like a small child’s stuffed animal, or awkwardly attach / hang it from yourself. It would be great if you could simply tell it to follow you between rooms. But obviously those little legs won’t get it far.
Science fiction would solve the problem by simply making it fly (with anti-gravity). Weebo from the movie Flubber comes to mind. It’s pretty much exactly what this little robot wants to be (except for the troublesome AI).
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Weebo
I wondered what it would cost as I wouldn’t mind owning one. A search of the creators name brought me to Wikipedia where I found a robot sister, MANOI PF01. Just a quick searching and she costs USD $4,784.85…
I still want one!
RobotShop lists Manoi PF01 in kit form for “only” $3,371.71. So much for the comment on the Heathkit post that you can’t save money anymore by building kits!
We all knew this day would come, skynet……. is here.
More like, cuddlenet.
OMG that is dangerously cute, it will be huge. Selling my Apple stock and buying Sharp, ASAP.
But it’s not April 1?
This reminds me a lot of Google Panda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI9Qb4PuiOU
Google Panda was an April Fool’s joke. Apparently RoBoHoN isn’t?
Another step closer to making Angelic Layer style mini-bot fighting a reality. “Angel! Fall in!”
I imagine any potential owner of this tech will not *need* to put it to their ear because: Wireless Accessories
And there is probably an upgrade where it rides on your shoulder and whispers in your ear.
once it evolves a synthetic skin and betavoltaics, its introduction to an uncontacted people would make for an interesting video documentary. Except for those inbreeding murderous folk on that one island where they throw spears at helicopters and boaters. we could have these little robotic duende running around, smurfs even. people who have no introduction to technology would be fun to interact with. (ditch the screen, go full android, communicate with native tribes and make interesting videos and scientific observations)