The world's first space conversation experiment between a robot and humans is ready to be launched into space from the Tanegashima Space Center on August 4, 2013. The Humanoid communication robot Kirobo, shown left above, left, talks with Fuminori Kataoka, project general manager from Toyota Motor Corp. "Russia was the first to go outer space, the U.S. was the first to go to the moon, we want Japan to be the first to send a robot-astronaut to space that can communicate with humans," said Yorichika Nishijima, the Kirobo project manager.
Tomotaka Takahashi, CEO of Robo Garage Co. and associate professor at the University of Tokyo, said he hopes robots like Kirobo that hold conversations will eventually be used to assist astronauts working in space.
"When people think of robots in outer space, they tend to seek ones that do things physically," said Takahashi. "But I think there is something that could come from focusing on humanoid robots that focus on communication."
Because Kirobo, which means "hope" in Japanese, does not need to perform physical activities, it is smaller than most robots that go into space. Kirobo is about 34 centimeters tall (13 inches) and weighs about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).