Hitachi robot to help people in public facilities

April 12, 2016

Hitachi is developing a robot that can help people in public facilities like airports and hospitals. Jun Hongo in The Wall Street Journal reports that the robot, called Emiew3, can communicate with humans in four languages.

Centralized software will analyze questions and formulate responses. Emiew3 weighs 33 lbs. and can travel at 3.7 mph. It can pick itself up if it falls over.

Emiew3 could offer competition to SoftBank’s Pepper, on sale since last June. Pepper has reportedly found work as a salesclerk in a cellphone store in Tokyo, where it speaks only Japanese.

Hongo reports that Emiew3 will go on sale to businesses (not consumers) in 2018 at undisclosed price.

About the Author

Rick Nelson | Contributing Editor

Rick is currently Contributing Technical Editor. He was Executive Editor for EE in 2011-2018. Previously he served on several publications, including EDN and Vision Systems Design, and has received awards for signed editorials from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He began as a design engineer at General Electric and Litton Industries and earned a BSEE degree from Penn State.