Toyota's guide robot ROBINA makes its debut

Toyota held a press conference in Japan showing off its new service robot  TPR-ROBINA. The robot will be used as a guide at the company's exhibition facility.

According to well-known and credible journalist Kazumichi Moriyama who attended the press event, the name "ROBINA" comes from  "ROBot as INtelligent Assistant." The robot's face is supposed to portray "kindness" and "calmness" - although by reading the comments on this Engadget post, Toyota doesn't seem to have succeeded in doing this.  Besides giving a tour of Toyota's facility, ROBINA can sign an autograph too.

Moriyama has written this article on Robot Watch - a popular online publication. But what's more interesting is what he's written on his personal blog which is being read by thousands of people daily.

He says that the voice recognition system on ROBINA was "terrible" and that the crowd was not an excuse. It was difficult to tell what ROBINA was trying to do or where ROBINA was heading - lack of expressiveness - which is a detriment for a "guide."

So maybe Toyota does need help from Sony after all..........