And now for something completely different: The company behind a four-foot tall, humanoid robot said to be capable of reading people’s emotions are warning people who purchase the unit not to have inappropriate physical relations with the machine.
Yes, as AFP and USA Today reported, Japanese mobile device manufactured SoftBank, which manufactures and distributes the humanoid robot known as Pepper, has reminded people not to have sex with their robots. Their manual states that owners “must not perform any sexual act” or any other “indecent behavior” on the droid – which thankfully is not, ahem, equipped for such behavior.
Of course, the terms of use also emphasize that the $1,600 machine cannot be used outdoors or to inflict harm on another human being, but it’s the prohibition of hot robot lovin’ that has garnered much of the attention. Violation of the ban on lewd acts could result in punishment, reports indicate, but exactly what that punishment would be remains unclear.
Exactly how far a customer has to go to cross the line into “indecent behavior” is also uncertain, and personally, we at redOrbit would rather not know how far some people would consider pushing the envelope. One thing that is definitely a no-no, however, is tampering with Pepper’s OS to give it a seductive voice. There goes our plans for the weekend. Thanks, SoftBank.
Japan loves the robot, even if they can’t love the robot
All kidding aside, Pepper has been a big hit in Japan, primarily for wholesome purposes such as customer service workers and office assistants in banks, hotels, and retail stores, explained USA Today. One thousand units of the robot went on sale during the months of June, July, and August last year, and in each month, all of them sold out in about one minute.
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son has stated in the past that the robots can move autonomously and are capable of holding basic conversations with humans. They can also detect emotions and have been programmed to understand feelings and provide an appropriate response. According to Son, Pepper is the first robot ever to be equipped to deal with emotions and to have “a heart.”
USA Today said that it is not clear why Softbank “found it necessary to include the prohibition against sexual acts in the lengthy user agreement,” noting that the company did not reply to their requests for comment on the issue. Perhaps we’re all better off not knowing why such a ban was deemed necessary.
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Feature Image: SoftBank
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