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.