Robotic pets showcased at CES 2019
Updated 14:49, 15-Jan-2019
CGTN
["china"]
01:14
Lovot the pet robot has emerged as one of the early hits of the CES 2019 tech trade show held January 8-11 in Las Vegas, the United States.
Lovot can't carry on long conversations, but it's still approaching people so they can interact, moving around a space to create a digital map, and responds to being embraced.
Lovot is the brainchild of Groove X CEO Kaname Hayashi, who previously worked on SoftBank's Pepper, a humanoid robot that briefly appeared in a few U.S. shopping malls two years ago.
Hayashi wants to create a real connection between people and robots and believes he has created a robot that can be a pet for people who don't have the time to care for one.
The Lovot is outfitted sensors that detects its environment, facial recognition and a computer that can recognize up 1,000 people and remembers interactions.
"They are just recognizing you and coming to you and they understand how to communicate with non-verbal communications," Hayashi explains. 
It's expected to retail for 3,100 U.S. dollars and will be available this September.
Source(s): AP ,Reuters