Pepper Robot (Photo : Twitter)
Softbank's Pepper robots are friendly humanoids built with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) that allows them to interact with humans and show emotions. While the $1,800 bot works as a salesman in a phone store, a major problem of the anthropomorphic machine is a lack of developer support. SoftBank has announced that Pepper's operating system that runs its AI systems can soon be switched over to Google's Android OS.
The Japanese robot's OS named Naoqi allows the machine to access data needed to function and talk with humans.
Last summer SoftBank offered 1,000 Pepper bots for the retail market, according to ZDNet. The emotionally intelligent robots sold out in less than one minute.
CEO Masayoshi Son wanted to build the robot with a custom ecosystem. The original goal was to make the android a member of smart homes to make people's everyday lives easier, while also earning ad revenue for the multi-national telecom, according to Android Headlines.
Due to Japan's aging population, AI bots could be used instead of working-age adults in the healthcare and service industries. There will be a lower supply during the next decades.
SoftBank has not provided details about a deal with the Alphabet subsidiary. It is unclear how the tablet's OS would be switched over to Android or if the mini computer would include Google Play.
Google Play is the most popular Android ecosystem. This could help to turn Pepper into a popular money-making machine. However, Google would get part of the revenue, so it would have benefits and drawbacks for SoftBank.
Android OS would give the cute robot access to a myriad of apps and services. It could also access application program interfaces (API) so they could integrate with the bot's OS and AI.
At this year's Consumer Electronic Show (CES) SoftBank announced that IBM would bring the AI of its Watson supercomputer to Pepper. The goal was to make Pepper a popular home robot.
Then at the Google IO developer conference on May 19, Thursday the mobile/Internet company announced it is opening a new developer portal as well as adding SDK Android Studio. This will boost the bot's capabilities before its United States launch later this year.
SoftBank has not made any announcements about when Android tablets would be available for the robot. The Japanese mobile company also has not revealed if current Pepper owners could keep the original OS.
Here's Pepper at CES:
