Pepper is a key plank in SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son’s vision of future technology centered on the “internet of things”. Photo: ReutersTaipei: Pepper, SoftBank Corp’s humanoid robot, greeted customers at a Taiwan bank and a life insurer on Thursday, one of the first countries outside Japan to use the shiny machine in a front-line role with clients. The robot was handed an employee ID card at a First Commercial Bank branch in Taipei and joined staff in an exercise routine before meeting the public. “I think this is pretty good for customers ... to kill time or to have more fun interacting with Pepper,” said bank customer Chang Cheng-Kang. Pepper also started work on Thursday for Cathay Life Insurance, an arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co, which plans to deploy 10 robots.

Source: Mint October 06, 2016 13:54 UTC