Toyota Motor : NTT and Toyota Begin Joint Research Aimed at Promoting the Use of Lifestyle Support Robots

Previously, robot development focused primarily on industrial robots in factories and other workplaces fulfilling tasks in place of humans. However, in recent years, as observed in products like robot vacuum cleaners, increased attention has been given to partner robots. Partner robots operate inside homes and can help with such tasks as housework, nursing and child raising, or acting as a partner with which to communicate.

NTT is engaging in the research and development of corevo, which incorporates media processing technologies with world-leading levels of accuracy (the company's voice recognition technologies being a prime example) and interaction technologies such as R-env so that robots and other personified agents operating on corevo are able to understand human words and expressions, as well as understand advanced discussions that incorporate hand and body gestures. Through its collaboration with various manufacturers, NTT has promoted initiatives that equip robots with a variety of different characteristics to become more integrated into human life.

Toyota, meanwhile, has advanced development of HSRs that are compact and lightweight, easy to operate, and that provide safety and peace of mind. The company intends for HSRs to operate inside the home, live together with people, and support even more bountiful lifestyles in the future. In 2015, Toyota established the HSR Developers' Community in collaboration with multiple universities and research institutes. The goal of the community is to accelerate technological development in order to improve the functionality of HSRs.