Sony introduced the Xperia Agent as a concept device
back in 2016 at the MWC event, and after one year, the company has today
finally launched it in Japan in the form of ‘Xperia Hello.’ It is a
communication Robot that can recognize each member of the family and talk to
them for daily needs.
With Xperia Hello Sony is trying to take the smart
home speakers to the next level. While it does mostly the same things as
telling you about the weather, controlling music, and more, it can do more like
assessing the surroundings and speak or move according to the situation with no
human input required.
The Sony Xperia Hello combines the Sony’s robotics
with Sony Agent Technology to behave as a member of your family and perform
tasks around the home. It has a 4.6-inches liquid crystal touch screen display
that shows conversations, news, and whatnot. It can rotate up to 340-degrees
and responds to anyone who speaks to it. The Xperia Hello does have a camera
that can be used for video calls and also comes in handy as a security camera
as well.
It has infrared sensor to detect moments and seven
microphones to ensure no command or sound is left unheard. Sony says that it
can remember important days such as any family events and notify the entire
household.
The Xperia Hello comes with Commands like “show me
what my family is up to” which will notify you of the last time the children’s
faces were detected and “show me what you see” will make it rotate and provide
a view of its surroundings. It can even offer personalized info to each family
member. However, Sony doesn’t say much about the AI inside it, and it seems
like despite running on Android, it doesn’t make use of existing technologies
like Alexa or Google Assistant. Instead, Sony is using the same custom-made
agent that Sony put inside the Xperia Earbuds.
The Sony Xperia Hello will be available only in
Japan starting from November 16th at a price of ¥ 150,000 (US$ 1317.
