Important Innovations

  Nicobo - Panasonic's Companion Robot                                                  Source:  Panasonic Very Smart Companion With A Little Baby Talk Panasonic's new desktop robot Nicobo is designed to make you smile.  It has no legs or wheels but can speak, spin around and nod up and down. It was specifically designed by Panasonic to chase away the blues for people feeling alone and isolated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  It is a very smart companion desktop robot that looks like an adorable little robot for anyone. Immediate Sell-Out Nicobo debuted on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Makuake.  Priced at $376.00 with an expected delivery date of March 2022, Panasonic immediately sold all of its available 320 robot units.  Interestingly, for those who bought, Panasonic will require a monthly subscription fee of 980 yen or $9.26 per month after six months of use. Very Smart, Advanced Technology Nicobo has a camera for facial recognition of its owners.  It has a sensor that react

Toyota Showcasing Autonomous Technology & Much More Source:  Toyota Miraitowa and Someity - The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Mascots Tokyo 2020 Olympics for Athletes and Latest Technology For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics a big crowd pleaser will be the technology deployed.  The official game mascots are two adorable robots - Miraitowa and Someity, just unveiled at Toyota headquarters in Japan  The humanoid "meeters and greeters" are programmed to show facial expressions as they greet athletes and fans . New Automated Helpers Toyota and Panasonic are teaming up to develop automated helpers for the games.  Besides the official mascots, there will be field support robots to help officials at throwing events by retrieving javelins and hammers from competitions.  Robots with cameras will broadcast live action and give fans a sense of virtual reality emersion in the Games. Fans will be able to interact with the athletes remotely with a new telepresence technology.  And, Toyota wil

Toyota & Panasonic Form New Company Source:  Toyota Manufacturing Japan Focus Connected Homes The two Japanese companies Toyota and Panasonic have just announced plans to jointly develop new personalized technology services for smart homes.  They are forming a new company in early 2020.  It underscores the market potential for new technologies developed for smart, connected homes.  For a news blog on this, go to  Important Innovations Collection: Toyota - Panasonic Smart Homes : New Joint Company Source:  Toyota Manufacturing in Japan "Connected" Services for Homes & Urban Development Two of Jap...