Hiroshi Fujiwara was recently appointed as Chief Creative Officer of Japanese robotics company GROOVE X earlier this year, just as the company launched its second-generation LOVOT 2.0 family robot that mimics the characteristics of a small household pet. For GROOVE X’S first collaboration, the company introduces the special FRAGMENT EDITION LOVOTs featuring an all-black design with icy blue eyes and Thunderbolt logos.
LOVOTs were conceived by the company’s founder following his visit to a nursing home in which the elders spoke of their desire for more lifelike robots whose hands were warmer. Powered by a complex assembly of haptic sensors, four mics, and a 360-degree camera, the robots are able to move around the home autonomously, recognize faces, detect changes in brightness and temperature, and discern voices. LOVOTs are also warm and soft to the touch, featuring wide distinct eyes that can be calibrated with over 1 billion combinations. In addition to the monochrome FRAGMENT robots themselves, an assortment of apparel and accessories are also available from fragment design, NEIGHBORHOOD, sacai, and GOD SELECTION XXX for both the robots and humans.
The LOVOT FRAGMENT EDITION robots will be available online and at Isetan Shinjuku Men’s beginning November 9 for ¥649,800 JPY (approximately $4,417 USD).
LOVOT POP-UP STORE
Isetan Shinjuku Men’s Building 1F,
3-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Opening hours: 10:00-20:00
Elsewhere in tech, Samsung teases upcoming collaboration with Maison Margiela.
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