TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dentsu Inc. (TOKYO:4324)(ISIN:JP3551520004)(President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today that on August 21 the robot astronaut Kirobo uttered the first words spoken by a robot in outer space: “On August 21, 2013, a robot took one small step toward a brighter future for all.”
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station (ISS), is expected to arrive at his post in November or December this year. He will then take part in the world’s first conversation experiment held between a person and a robot in outer space, an initiative designed to explore the possibilities of humans coexisting with robots in the future. The conversation will take place in the ISS’s Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo,” which means “hope.”
Kirobo was aboard the Kounotori 4 cargo transfer vehicle atop the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 4 that was launched early in the morning of August 4 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, and arrived at the International Space Station on August 10. Along with backup crew member Mirata, Kirobo is one of the two humanoid communication robots developed under the KIBO ROBOT PROJECT, a joint research project carried out in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, ROBO GARAGE Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation. JAXA also provided extensive cooperation.
Video footage and photographs related to Kirobo’s first words spoken in outer space will be supplied upon request to:
Seira Takano
KIBO ROBOT PROJECT
Email: takano-s@dentsu-crx.co.jp
About the Dentsu Group
Led by Dentsu Inc. (TOKYO:4324)(ISIN:JP3551520004), the world's largest advertising agency brand with a history of 112 years, the Dentsu Group offers a comprehensive range of client-centric communications and media services in 110 countries across five continents. Its Japan-wide network and London-based global operating unit Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., which oversees the operations of Aegis Media, a leading global media and digital communications specialist, as well as those of the Dentsu Network, which manages all of Dentsu's other global business operations outside Japan, together employ more than 37,000 dedicated professionals. The Group is also active in the production and marketing of sports and entertainment content on a global scale.
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