San Francisco — While merrily chirping, dancing and posing for selfies, a robot named Pepper looks like another expensive toy at a San Francisco mall. But don't dismiss it as mere child's play.
Pepper embodies the ambitions of SoftBank Robotics, an Asian joint venture formed by a trio of major technology companies that's aiming to put its personable robots in businesses and homes across the US over the next few years.
If the technology advances as Softbank Robotics hopes, Pepper could become a playmate, companion and concierge. It could eventually respond to voice commands to retrieve vital information, make reservations and control home appliances that are connected to the internet.
That's the theory, anyway. For now, Pepper is more amusing than practical, Forrester Research analyst JP Gownder says. For instance, Pepper has been directing shoppers to stores in the mall through text messages because it still isn't advanced enough to say them out loud.
And Pepper still has trouble understanding what people are asking, requiring shoppers to type in their requests for mall directions on a tablet mounted on the robot's chest.
A recent visitor to the San Francisco mall, Sharif Ezzat, noticed some of Pepper's shortcomings and concluded that the robot is still a long way from having mass appeal.
"I can't see it right now, but I can see where it's going," Ezzat said of Pepper's potential.
Chaz MacSwan, a puppeteer in San Francisco, was more impressed.
"Look at the joy it's bringing to people, especially the kids," MacSwan said. "I'd love to have one, especially if it could clean the carpets."