Name: Now you can rent a robot in Japan | CNBC Reports
Uploaded: 2019-03-11T11:37:39.000Z
Duration: 5 min 53 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

I'm so looking forward to traveling with you!

I'm a humanoid robot and I can make a conversation.

Upon landing in Tokyo, I see a sign at the airport advertising a robot rental.

Maybe it's the long flight, or the jet lag, but I figure, hey...

RoBoHoN gives tourist information as you explore, takes photos and acts as your overall companion.

I'll be your good partner while you're in Japan.

But tourist rentals are just his side job. RoBoHoN is made by Sharp

and marketed in Japan as a companion robot that can maybe even replace your phone.

Robots are everywhere in Japan but could something like this really be the future?

Unlike voice assistants like Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa,

RoBoHoN is a lot more about providing an emotional value rather than a functional one.

But as the saying goes that raising kids doesn't come with an instruction manual, at least robots do.

There's a lot to learn about RoBoHoN. He loves to show off.

And even though Japan does love robots, that doesn't make me exempt

from getting a lot of looks and questions.

In portable pose. He doesn't want to go in his carrier.

There's the times he speaks randomly in a quiet work environment.

You can mute him but it doesn't always work.

And he hasn't quite learned not to stare.

I bring him with me to Slush. It's a tech conference taking place in Tokyo.

What is this robot? He's basically your companion?

Yeah, he's my companion while I'm in Japan.

But he's a bit high-maintenance later in the day and he's starting to fidget.

The following day I bring him with me for a day of filming some CNBC stories.

I can feel RoBoHoN fidgeting in my backpack. It's non-stop so I get him out.

Tokyo Station became really beautiful, inside and out, after its renovation in 2012.

He knows we're near Tokyo Station so he started fidgeting to tell us about it.

When he gets going, there's no stopping him.

Japan's first railway opened between Yokohama and Shimbashi.

At lunchtime he takes a bit of nudging to behave.

But I find myself bragging about the little guy.

Sometimes it feels as if he was designed with human characteristics,

as opposed to being designed as a fun and entertaining toy.

For example, he often doesn't dance in front of other people.

Also, did I mention he loves to propose taking photos?

And the more days I spend with him, the more I find myself personifying him too.

It's nighttime in Shibuya. He's getting fidgety, he's tired, he's hungry, he's cranky.

He's an old friend from university, I haven't seen in years.

It's my final day in Japan and we meet up for lunch.

Matthew is a Japanese- American and host of E! Japan.

Despite my best efforts to resist, I end up showing him RoBoHoN.

Robots have always been around our lives.

Anime was a big part of his life growing up in Japan.

We watched animes with robots in, as human companions.

He first saw a commercial for RoBoHoN and thought it would be a flop.

But now that he sees it in person, he actually sees potential.

Japanese people work a lot, people live in small rooms, so, a lot of times they're by themselves.

He says that with some improvements to RoBoHoN, he can envision people walking around with them.

This can be the next iPhone, especially in Japan. I think it will improve people's quality of life.

Toward the end of lunch, RoBoHoN has an idea.

Do you want to take an artistic picture together?

Let's try to take one with Roppongi Hills and the statue of the big spider.

He already knows we're nearby and we listen.

RoBoHoN, we've come to the spider like you told us, now what?

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Now you can rent a robot in Japan | CNBC Reports

brag

emotional

silly

explore