Companionship can take on many forms -- bonds with family, friends, pets, and even, as one Japanese inventor believes, with a humanoid robot that doubles as a phone.

Forget about your blank-faced smartphone, says 42-year-old roboticist Tomotaka Takahashi. Be adventurous and invest in innovations like his brainchild that he says will give you far more bang for your buck.

 

 

Meet RoBoHoN, a 19.5-centimeter, 390-gram black and white mobile communication device jointly developed by Takahashi and Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp. and released in May 2016.

RoBoHoN can perform all the functions of a smartphone and much more. Not only does he make and receive calls, send emails, take photos, and play music, RoBoHoN can also do what a phone can't: walk, dance, wave, do handstands, pushups, and actually look cute.

A glimpse into the organized chaos of Takahashi's world shows a man obsessed with perfection who touts the benefits of owning RoBoHoN, whom he dubs "the ultimate robot." He plans his strategy on the go with flexibility he hopes will eventually turn his invention into a commercial success.

"My iPhone and iCloud store all my photos but I don't consider my iPhone my buddy. A pet dog can start feeling like family after a while, and so can RoBoHoN," said Takahashi in a recent interview with Kyodo News.

RoBoHoN costs 198,000 yen (about $1,800) -- about twice the price of an iPhone.

The two-legged resin-made RoBoHoN, the name a mix of the words robot and phone, features color-changing eyes, nine different sensors, a 2-inch touch screen on its back and a built-in projector in its forehead that can show movies on large screens.

The android-based smartphone robot is small enough to fit into a shirt pocket and Takahashi is convinced his invention will be the wave of the future, though he admits he himself has not given up his iPhone just yet.

"It's similar to a (relationship between a) man and a woman. You carry him with you everywhere so you feel like you've journeyed together through life's ups and downs. You will start to feel like an old married couple," he said.

Takahashi says RoBoHoN is meant to be a personal assistant and a comical and wise partner rolled into one. Like Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket, RoBoHoN can learn your habits and identify your face and voice. You will want to speak to him more than Apple's Siri, he says.

"I want everyone to eventually cancel their smartphone contracts and shift to robot phones. It will offer communication interfaces and personalized services. The more you communicate, the more trust you will build. You will bond through co-experience," said Takahashi.

But according to Takahashi, this is just the beginning. He imagines a generation of RoBoHoN bots to come.

"If you get a new RoBoHoN body, your data can be carried over, which means your old pal will continue to live on in the next generation. Each RoBoHoN has a heart-shaped crystal in its body and it's only there so that you can take it out and place it in a new body as a ritual."

Raised in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Takahashi always enjoyed crafts and building things growing up. He was influenced by the popular Japanese manga and anime character "Astro Boy," a science fiction series about the adventures of a super-powered android boy robot.

After graduating from Kyoto University's Graduate School of Engineering in 2003, he started his venture business and continues to work entirely by himself -- from design to manufacturing -- without an assistant, without a 3D printer, without even graphics software.

Never having worked in a 9-to-5 job, Takahashi calls himself a "robot creator" and currently splits his time between his home workshop and research space provided by the University of Tokyo, where he is an associate professor.

While Takahashi dresses sharply on media interview days doing his best to appear like his role model Steve Jobs, on other days he will lock himself in a room full of tools and rely on energy bars and instant cup noodles to get him through the sleepless nights.

"I have no fixed schedule, but I'm a perfectionist so I want to do everything myself. I don't want someone else to do it for me. I like to move my own fingers and try things on my own because those steps actually lead to the next invention," he said.

Takahashi has developed over 40 robots to date, including one that was sent into space in 2013 and another that climbed a 530-meter rope up the Grand Canyon in 2008, and has received multiple awards for his achievements.


(Tomotaka Takahashi)

He had one of his creations named to Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2004 and he was chosen as one of the "33 people who will change the future" by Popular Science.

Where does the five-time RoboCup world champion get his inspiration?

"The most important thing is input. I see how other industrial products are constructed, manufactured, designed, branded and sold. I buy products. I talk to people from different fields. The more input I get, the better. When I'm relaxed, the messy knots of ideas untangle and an image pops to mind," he said.

When the light bulb goes off, Takahashi knows he is ready.

"That's why I like working alone. In my case, if I have an idea I can start (creating) that instant. It's all about trial and error. The first step is always trying. You always discover something new when you try."

He considers every project a success in its own way but says he is nowhere near the end. He finds himself greedy for more whenever a project is completed.

"In terms of technology, I feel like I've already made the highest form of robot. In terms of hardware, I think RoBoHoN is the world's No. 1 robot. But my hope is to boost sales so that there are as many RoBoHoN owners as smartphone owners, and we're still far from that."

There are times when Takahashi imagines himself in technology hubs like Silicon Valley or Shenzhen sharing his immigrant success story, but for now he would like to test the waters in the Japanese market, where he sees a huge potential for business growth.

"I truly believe there will come a day when the norm will be one robot phone per person. I thought it would happen by now, but RoBoHoN may have been a bit ahead of his time," said Takahashi.

Takahashi says he isn't concerned android robots will make people isolate themselves from human contact. On the contrary, he believes they will improve social connectivity and individual well-being.

"I'll bet there were old men who got angry when the postal service system started, allowing people to communicate through letters rather than visiting each other's homes. But in any age, we want to be connected to each other and find a way to do so."

"We play online games with strangers to stay connected. Face-to-face visits turned into handwritten letters, then emails, then online chats, and will change form into robot phones. It's just another variation, another option," he said.


(Tomotaka Takahashi)