Sony Japan has announced its own digital assistant, or “communication robot”, called the Xperia Hello! This is Sony’s take in the ever growing home assistant market including products such as Amazon Echo, Google Home or Apple HomePod.
The Xperia Hello! (model number G1209) utilises a swivelling camera as the robot’s head, as well as a 4.6-inch 720p display as its body that is used to express emotions and display messages, weather, time etc. Sony is promoting the fact that the Xperia Hello! can recognise different family members and adapting the conversation around that person.
The robot has seven microphones installed at the bottom of the main body and sensors that detect the approach of a person from 3 metres. The body can then swivel by 340 degrees to recognise who is approaching. The robot can also be used as a remote webcam to keep an eye on your family or house while you are away.
We don’t expect Sony to shift a significant volume of Xperia Hello!’s, as it almost looks like a proof of concept in parts. The expensive price tag of 150,000 yen (€1,135, $1,335) will almost certainly put paid to any aspirations of this being a mainstream product. However, it certainly is a charming product that’s typical of Sony.
As things stand, Sony has only announced the Xperia Hello! for a Japan release on 18 November, but we’ll keep you posted if we see this release globally.
Via Sony Mobile Japan.
