Hello Kitty robot
By Katie Fehrenbacher 
posted Jul 12th 2004 9:14AM
posted Jul 12th 2004 9:14AM
A Hello Kitty robot seems like such a natural combo, we're surprised this hasn't been done
before, but for Hello Kitty's 30th birthday (to be released Nov. 1st), Business Design Labs and NEC
are developing a robotic kiti-chan. The robot's sole purpose is for its cuteness factor and,
sitting 52 cm tall, inanely chatters over 20,000 programmed conversations (in Japanese), displaying
"emotions" by moving its head and arms. Its 2 camera eyes can recognize up to 10 human faces and using
speech recognition can respond to your voice. Robo-Kitty will sell for 400,000 yen ($4000), which seems
like a lot for a non-walking, slightly higher-tech, Japanese Teddy Ruxpin.
400,000yen is closer to $4,000 than it is to $400....