"Is this a real cat?" A robot cat you can bond with like a real pet -- NeCoRo is born

October 16, 2001 -Omron Corporation (President and CEO: Yoshio Tateisi, Headquarters: Kyoto) will begin selling as a new product a cat type communication robot from November 20. Orders can be placed at Takashimaya (limited to 7 stores) starting October 17, and orders will be accepted by phone or over the Internet from November 3. Available in two colors, gray and brown, sales at this time will be restricted to 5,000 units.

Envisioning a society embodying a wide diversity of values, where everyone can live comfortably at peace (what Omron calls the Optimization Society), Omron sees the importance in the realization of a machine that can communicate with humans and understand them. A machine that is gentle to humans and responds appropriately to an individualﾍs needs. Natural communication between humans and machines is made possible with the cat type communication robot NeCoRo. Created with Omron's core sensing and control technology and artificial intelligence technology, NeCoRo realizes natural human to robot communication. Because of its ability to react to human movement and express its own emotions, people pour their affection into this robot and feel attached to it as they would a pet. By living with each other day after day, the person becomes at ease with the robot as it enriches the person's life. NeCoRo, a robot with synthetic fur giving it a feline appearance, introduces communication in the form of playful, natural exchanges as between a person and a cat. Via internal sensors of touch, sound, sight, and orientation, human action/thoughts can be perceived, and feelings/wants are generated based on internal feelings. Using 15 actuators inside the body, it behaves in response to its feelings. It will get angry if someone is violent to it, and express satisfaction when stroked, cradled, and treated with lots of love. Based on its own physiological rhythms, it will express its desire to sleep or cuddle. Moreover, through a learning/growth function, while living with each other day after day, the cat will become attached to its owner and its personality will adjust to the owner. And as it begins to remember the sound of the owner's voice and its own name, it will recognize its name when called out by the owner. <Characteristics> 1) Responds to human movement/emotions 2) Has feelings and desires, and its personality will adjust to its owner 3) Remembers its name and acknowledges its name when called 4) Synthetic fur gives it a feline appearance, so it feels natural to treat it like a cat, stroking and hugging it

<Specifications>

Dimensions	Outer dimensions: 260mm x 160mm x 320mm (excluding tail) Weight: 1.6 Kg (when battery is inserted) Fur material: Acrylic (gray or brown)
Sensing and recognition	Tactile sensors are embedded in the head, chin and back, so it can recognize stroking and patting A microphone is in the head, so it can detect sound and recognize the source of the sound As it's name is called over and over it will remember its name and react when called Within its scope of vision, it can perceive the direction of moving objects An internal acceleration sensor allows it to know its position when cradled or spun around
Feeling generation mechanism	Equipped with Omron's proprietary MaC (Mind and Consciousness) technology, feelings are generated according to recognition feedback, which isdependent on configurations based on psychological concepts, leading to cognitive decisions andactions determined by these feelings (applicablepatent acquired) Feelings of satisfaction, anger, and uneasiness generated based on recognition feedback Desires to sleep or be cuddled generated according to physiological rhythms Via a learning function, personality traits such as selfishness and the need for attention will change in response to the owner Via a growth function, expressive patterns in reaction to the owner will increase
Actuators	4 legs (each with two degrees of freedom), tail with two degrees of freedom, neck with two degrees of freedom, and eyelids, ears, and a mouth each with one degree of freedom, for a total of 15 degrees of freedom. Equipped with many movement patterns and a voice speaker, 48 different cat sounds can be vocalized.
Power supply	Replaceable nickel hydrogen battery (Ni-MH) Battery is good for 1 hour and 30 minutes of operation (battery is charged to full capacity in 2 hours)
Accessories	Battery pack/special charger/instruction manual/ brush

<Internal sensors and primary operational parts>

　

high resolution photo data for press（Free download） necoro01.jpg 1030*1043 (337KB) necoro02.jpg 1012*1029 (350KB)