Hello Kitty robot

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.   

[bakahage @ Dec 19th 2005 1:57AM]

400,000yen is closer to $4,000 than it is to $400....