Alibaba and Foxconn have agreed to each buy a 20 percent share in Softbank's Robotics business for JPY 14.5 billion per stake. Softbank will retain ownership of the remaining 60 percent. SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn will together build a structure to bring Pepper and other robotics businesses to global markets and to develops the robotics industry on a worldwide scale.
SoftBank also announced that sales of Pepper will start in Japan on 20 June. With 1,000 units available for purchase this month, customers will be able to place orders for Pepper online starting from 10:00hrs. On 19 June a special drawing for a limited number of 30 units will be held at SoftBank Tokyo Station GranRoof Front (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo). Additional shipments of Pepper will follow from July. The basic price for the robot is JPY 198,000.
Softbank claims that Pepper is the first robot that can read human emotions. In addition, Pepper is able to artificially generate its own emotions. These emotion functions in Pepper are modeled on the human release of hormones in response to stimuli absorbed by the five senses which in turn generate emotions. In addition, Pepper can generate emotions autonomously by processing information from its cameras, touch sensors, accelerometer and other sensors within its "endocrine-type multi-layer neural network".
Pepper's emotions are influenced by people's facial expressions and words, as well as its surroundings, which in turn affects Pepper's words and actions. For example, Pepper is at ease when he is around people he knows, happy when he is praised, and gets scared when the lights go down. Depending on the emotion at the time, Pepper raises his voice or sighs, for example. Pepper's emotions can be seen on the heart display, which shows different colors and movements. Furthermore, a number of robot apps have been developed, such as Pepper's Diary, which links Pepper's emotions with daily family events that are recorded with pictures and photos.
Around 200 robot apps will be available at launch. Special robot apps that can be acquired by using 'cocorogumi', which are obtained by spending time with Pepper, will also be available. Furthermore, a beta programme for developing and distributing Pepper applications will be offered by Aldebaran, the joint developer of Pepper and subsidiary of SoftBank in France, starting from early July.
This autumn, SoftBank plans to launch a dedicated model for enterprises, 'Pepper for Biz'. Details will be announced at the SoftBank World 2015 event, which will be held in July.
