SoftBank has announced that its humanoid robot "Pepper" will be made available in stores in the U.S. next year.
The move is part of the Japanese tech company's goal to make the technology useful in other fields besides factories, according to Bloomberg. Fumihide Tomizawa, CEO of SoftBank Robotics, said the robot has already gained the interest of between 300 and 400 companies involved in finance, education and food service.
Pepper, created by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, is 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall and can dance, make jokes and study people's expressions to understand human emotions.
Additional features of the world's first personal robot include a laser sensor and a battery that can last for 12 hours on one charge, International Business Times reported. The robots' operating system works similarly to Google's Android software used in smartphones, which provides users options for customization.
Japanese customers will be the first to be able to buy Pepper, which will be available in February 2015 for 1,200 pounds. The robot will then be available in U.S. stores next summer for a price that has yet to be determined.
"We will sell Pepper in the United States within a year after gathering information in Japan," Tomizawa said.
"I won't be surprised if Pepper sales will be half to business and half to consumers," he added.
Son explained his goal for Pepper in 2010, saying he wanted to create a society where humans could live with intelligent robots, adding that his inspiration came from the 1960s animated series "Astro Boy," which centers around a boy robot trying to experience emotions, Bloomberg reported.
He also announced in July that he plans to replace 90 million jobs with 30 million robots in order to improve productivity at work.
While Pepper was originally targeted towards families and the elderly, it has lately been getting the attention of businesses that believe they have uses for the robot, International Business Times reported.
"We could enter the robot business for industrial use in the mid or long-term," Tomizawa said.
