Love Plus character designer Tarō Minoboshi (formerly Mino☆Tarō) is designing a Gatebox Holographic Communication Robot. He is another, of seemingly a long line, creator who has left Konami. Now he has changed his creative name and he seems to be starting on a new passion project. Tarō and Vinchu are working on the holograph device which would complete voice-command tasks like a universal remote control and greet “tired workers when they come home”.
The robot character is called Hikari Azuma. She has been given a variety of tasks from managing the user’s calendar, waking them up in the morning, and reporting the weather to controlling other appliances, take digital pictures, and possibly acting on its own accord to get the user’s attention. Work is still in progress, so the list of functions may change, or even grow.
According to Anime News Network:
The company is currently focusing on improving Gatebox’s communication accuracy with a crowdfunding campaign to launch in this fall. The price is expected to be around 100,000 yen (US$852) but it could change. Vinchu has already raised about 90 million yen (US$766,868) in capital and is actively recruiting more engineers.
The following is a concept video showing what this new future could be like.
No doubt this technology, when realized, will stay in Japan for a good while. But here’s to hoping that it will not languish in the Land of the Rising Sun for too long. The eternal otaku argument over whether 2D girls are better than 3D girls could enter a new and interesting phase with the introduction of Hikari.
Tune back into Operation Rainfall for further updates to this interesting new development and whether this new future will be available outside of Japan.
