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Certified for two Guinness World Records®: "The robot that conversed at the highest point on Earth" and "The first companion robot to travel to space"! Robot Astronaut "KIROBO" Return Report Meeting Held
Dentsu Inc., the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Robo Garage, and Toyota Motor Corporation, with the cooperation of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), advanced the "KIBO ROBOT PROJECT," a collaborative research initiative involving the robotic astronaut "KIROBO" stationed on the International Space Station (ISS).
KIROBO resided on the ISS from August 10, 2013, conducting research toward a future where humans and robots coexist. Alongside JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, it achieved the world's first successful "experiment in human-robot dialogue in space." On February 11, 2015, Kirobo safely returned to Earth aboard SpaceX's unmanned supply spacecraft "Dragon" (C-5), splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. He returned to Japan on March 12.
On March 27, he held a debriefing session at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) as outlined below. The session featured a compilation video summarizing the series of activities leading up to his return to Earth and showcased a conversation between Kirobo, who had just returned to Japan, and the project members.
[Return Report Meeting Overview]
■Date: Friday, March 27, 2015
■Venue: Miraikan Hall, 7th Floor, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
■Speakers: Fuminori Kataoka, Senior Manager, Product Planning Office, Toyota Motor Corporation
Tomotaka Takahashi, President & CEO, Robo Garage Inc. and Visiting Researcher, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo
Yorichika Nishijima, Copywriter, Business Creation Center, Dentsu Inc. and Representative, Dentsu Robot Promotion Center
(Moderator: Maki Mori)
■Content: Overview report from project members, screening of compilation video, Kirobo appearance, conversation demonstration with project members, presentation of Guinness World Records® certificate, photo session
(Reference Materials)
KIROBO Basic Specifications
■Dimensions: Height approx. 34 cm, Width approx. 18 cm, Depth approx. 15 cm
■Weight: Approx. 1,000 g
■Speech Language: Japanese
■Primary Equipment: Voice recognition, natural language processing, speech synthesis, information communication functions, communication actions, face recognition camera, recording camera, and more
Project History
■November 29, 2012: Project announcement and call for robot nickname submissions. 2,452 entries received from the public.
■June 26, 2013: Kirobo completed and unveiled at a press conference.
■August 4, 2013: Kirobo departed for the ISS aboard the Kounotori 4 supply spacecraft.
■August 10, 2013: Kirobo arrives at the ISS. (※For Guinness World Records®, the official arrival date is August 9, the moment the ISS robotic arm captured the Kounotori 4 spacecraft.)
■August 21, 2013: Kirobo utters its first words from the ISS: "August 21, 2013. This is the first step of a robot toward the hope of the future."
■November 7, 2013: JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata departs for the ISS aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz. Arrives at the ISS on the same day.
■December 6, 2013: Conducted the world's first "experiment in human-robot dialogue in space" with JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata. (※According to Guinness World Records®, the date is December 7, the moment the conversation occurred.)
■May 14, 2014: JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata returned to Earth.
■February 11, 2015: Kirobo returned to Earth.
■March 12, 2015: Kirobo returned to Japan.
■March 27, 2015: Return briefing held.
Details of the mission are available here: http://kibo-robo.jp/
*Guinness World Records® is a registered trademark of Guinness World Records Limited.
Dentsu Inc. News Release
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