Wakamaru

thumb|Wakamaru greeting the viewer Wakamaru is a Japanese robot made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that is intended to perform natural communication with human beings. The yellow, 3-foot domestic robot debuted in 2005 at a $14,300-$15,000 USD price-point exclusively for Japanese households. Through its development, the Wakamaru has been used for presenting at exhibitions, guiding customers, and working as a desk receptionist. However, the Wakamaru has not advanced beyond its first model that was released in 2005.

== History == The earliest form of the Wakamaru was in 2000, when Mitsubishi released information on a project entitled "MHI Frontier 21 Project." This project was launched with a small group of younger employees that proposed a "Service Robot Business Project." In 2001, development on a "Life-Assist Robot" was started and a prototype was built by product designer Toshiyuki Kita. On February 2, 2003, the Wakamaru was announced to media outlets in Japan and was displayed at the Robodex 2003 robot exhibition later in April. In 2005, Mitsubishi reported that they exclusively did a test sale of 100 units of Wakamaru robots to "ordinary households" in twenty three Tokyo neighborhoods.