SoftBank Corp’s human-like robot named ‘Pepper’ gives a coffee cup to a TV personality Kyoko Uchida as they introduce Nestle’s coffee machines during a promotion event at an electronics shop in Tokyo yesterday. The robot was touted by SoftBank as capable of learning and expressing human emotions, and of serving as a companion or guide in a country that faces chronic labour shortages. The maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars plans to have the robots working at 1,000 stores by the end of next year.
