China's Companion Robots Surpass 13,000 Pre-orders

Companion robots in China are garnering significant attention, having surpassed 13,000 pre-orders. Despite the high price tag, starting from approximately 30 million won (around $22,000 USD) and reaching over 220 million won (around $160,000 USD) for top-tier models, pre-orders have already exceeded 13,000 units.

A Chinese robot company has unveiled its first series of home humanoid robots, meticulously designed with lifelike details including blood vessels, fingerprints, eyelashes, and hair. These robots can listen to human voices, discern over 20 types of emotions, and are presented as conversational partners for those experiencing loneliness.

However, initial assessments suggest the robots are not yet complete companions, with criticisms pointing to unnatural movements and frequent conversational interruptions. Concerns were also raised about the lack of synchronization between lip movements and speech, leading to an artificial appearance.

The robot company stated its intention to continuously improve performance by accumulating user data and plans to increase production capacity to 50,000 units next year, starting with a target of 10,000 units produced this year.