Tokyo based Robotics Company -SoftBank, confirmed that it would continue its business with its Social Robot -“Pepper”.
Softbank Robotics Corp is a robotics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company specializes in designing friendly humanoid robots. It offers three types of robots -Pepper, NAO and Whiz. Pepper and NAO are humanoid robots, and Whiz is a Cleaning robot.
Earlier, Softbank Robotics Europe, a subsidiary of Softbank Robotics Corp, had laid off 50% of its workforce in its headquarters in Paris. The sales of its robots in Europe were less when compared with Japan, and the company has lost around $38 million in the Fiscal Year 2019-20. It seemed that the company would no longer prioritize the Pepper and Nao Robots. There was a temporary halt in “Pepper Robot” Production, and there were reports about the complete extermination of “Pepper”.
But, SoftBank Robotics Corp. spokesman Ai Kitamura recently said: “There is absolutely no change in our Pepper business,”
Social distancing has increased the demand for social robots like Pepper. Pepper Robots have guided visitors with vaccine information during vaccination and take the temperature of patients.
SoftBank Group Corp. founder and chief Masayoshi Son and other experts say:
“Japanese have a soft spot for robots like Pepper that look somewhat human and sometimes appear to show emotion.”
Pepper Robot is also working in a Special children school at Somerset called Mendip”, To assist autistic pupils in regulating their emotions and wellbeing.
Pepper Robots have been cheering for the SoftBank Hawks Japanese professional baseball team in southwestern Japan. Pepper Robots can also help in computer programming education in Japanese schools.
Kitamura mentioned that they had gained a large fanbase for Pepper Robot, and she stressed that: “So many people said they would be sad if Pepper is gone”.
