PEPPER: the semi-humanoid robot

Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics (formerly Aldebaran Robotics), designed with the ability to read emotions.

It was introduced in a conference on 5 June 2014 and was showcased in SoftBank Mobile phone stores in Japan beginning the next day. Pepper's ability to recognize emotion is based on detection and analysis of facial expressions and voice tones.

1.A robot may not injure a human, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The laws of robotics ISAAC ASIMOV

Pepper was introduced in Tokyo on June 5, 2014 by Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank. Pepper was scheduled to be available in December 2015 at SoftBank Mobile stores. Pepper went on sale in June 2015 with the first batch of 1,000 units selling out in just 60 seconds. Pepper was launched in the UK in 2016. The first functioning Pepper receptionist in the UK was supplied by a SoftBank distributor and was installed in London at Brainlabs. The robot is used to greet travelers, offer menus and recommendations. In 2018, Pepper robot was introduced first time in the UAE(United Arab Emirates).

In 2017, Pepper was reported to have been used in thousands of homes in Japan. Pepper is available as a research and educational robot for schools, colleges and universities to teach programming and conduct research into human-robot interactions. The project was expected to run for three years. Institutions involved in the research include University of Genoa (Project Coordinator), Örebro University, Middlesex University, the University of Bedfordshire, SoftBank Robotics, Advinia HealthCare, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Japanese coordinator), Nagoya University, Chubu University. On Tuesday 16 October 2018, a Pepper robot mentioned the CARESSES project while giving evidence to the Education Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament.

Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.

ISAAC ASIMOV