Kirobo the world's talking robot was officially launched Sunday on a cargo transfer vehicle headed towards the International Space Station (ISS).
The robot, which also contains facial recognition technology, is set to arrive on the ISS on Saturday. Japan launched Kirobo into space to be a companion to astronaut Kochi Wakata, who will arrive to the ISS in November, according to BBC.
"Kirobo will remember Mr Wakata's face so it can recognise him when they reunite up in space," Tomotaka Takahashi, CEO of Robo Garage Co and project associate professor, research centre for advanced science and technology, at the University of Tokyo, told BBC News. "I wish for this robot to function as a mediator between a person and machine, or a person and the Internet, and sometimes even between people."
According to PC World, Kirobo was created as a part of a program that "aims to provide companionship using such devices to people living alone including the elderly."
"The Kibo robot has a special mission: To help solve the problems brought about by a society that has become more individualized and less communicative," the Kibo Robot Project wrote on their official website.
The robot was sent into space on Kounotori 4 cargo transfer vehicle launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center atop an H-IIB launch vehicle on Sunday morning.
The robot is black and white with red boots, a little more than a foot tall, and combines speech, voice and face recognition and other communications functions.
Kirobo will spend 18 months on the ISS with Wakata.
According to BBC, "dozens of tests were carried out over nine months to ensure Kirobo's reliability."
Kirobo has a twin robot that will stay on Earth named Mirata. Mirata will monitor any technical difficulties Kirobo may experience in space.
The creation of Kirobo was a joint effort between Takahashi, car producer Toyota and advertising company Dentsu.
You can watch Kirobo's launch into space in the video below.
