This Japanese company is developing virtual lover who lives in the glass box for you

While companies like Amazon.com Inc. or Google is trying to bring speakers along with a virtual assistant to your home, Mr. Takechi, the founder of Vinclu said that those products are too much about usability. Instead, the Tokyo-based company thinks that people will want to have emotional relationships with a virtual assistant.

"Our vision is a world where people can share life with favorite fantasy characters , " said Takechi, 29. "We live in an era when all kinds of robots start paving the way into our homes. But most of what you see today are inorganic and mechanical things and I don't believe you who will want to contact something like that ".

Virtual assistant Hikari lives in a tube that looks like a coffee machine called Gatebox , a project like Hologram on the screen. This virtual assistant is not afraid to be flirted with. You say that you like her and Hikari will reply back with "today, tomorrow and the next day!".

This character can talk and text with the user.

Currently, Gatebox is only available in Japan, and is known as an alternative when unmarried men would rather have a relationship with virtual girlfriends than marry. The good news is that the company is planning to use more representative models, possibly cartoon characters, to sports idols.

Vinclu is not the only company to bet that sentiment will be a key component for any companion robot or artificial intelligence. Groove X Inc., another Japanese startup, is also developing a robot capable of "touching your heart".

When Takechi started the campaign to raise money in early 2015, before Amazon Echo got the attention of users and Google Home was introduced, most investors were not interested in this hardware project, I said. But he still received the initial 20 million yen (US $ 180,000) based on the construction. A fan of this product is Taizo Son, brother of the founder of SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son.

Currently, Gatebox is only available in Japan.

So far, Vinclu has received 200 million yen from investors including Primal Capital and Uncubate Fund. Line Corp., Japan's largest messaging company, bought a majority of the startup's stock in March as part of its push for AI.

"Combining Gatebox's know-how and technology with our Clova AI platform will enable us to develop a new form of post-button, post-touch assistant that will enable the life of the user. Rich and more interesting , " said Jun Masuda, Line's director of strategy and marketing. The company is planning to launch a desktop speaker called Wave earlier this summer.

Gatebox has a long way to go before it can bring about a real relationship and the games that it can do are just some of the scripts that have been programmed. However, Line's support will help Takechi get richer in AI features and service ecosystems than just texting. More than 171 million people registered in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia use Line to read news, hire a taxi and find part-time jobs.

The company is developing behavioral traits that allow these personalities to make mistakes without bothering you.

Not everyone understands the value of the industry rushing towards voice assistants. Although Amazon Echo and Apple Siri make users impressed that they can answer any question, the fact that these generic artificial intelligence is still a long way to go, according to Benedic Evan, a partner at Andressen Horowitz. In March, he warned that people remember only a few voices and some people may have negative emotions with things that are too human, but not human.

Vinclu's answer to this limited voice is "kawaii" , a Japanese word meaning "lovely" . Takechi said the company is developing behavioral traits that allow these personalities to make mistakes without bothering you. For example, this virtual assistant girlfriend, if you can't book a Uber ride, is easier to forgive than other regular virtual assistants.

Takechi said: "The type of communication that we focus on is not a relationship that dictates the order-response. Kawaii can't make mistakes."