When I told you about Papero back in March, it was to lament the fact that he had no arms—putting him at a severe disadvantage against AIBO in hand-to-hand combat. Well, someone at NEC was reading, and they not only gave Papero arms but made him a “health food advisor” who can tell how much fat and sugar my food has in it. (Take that, fat-fighting AIBO!) Papero also has taste. It beams “infrared rays of various wave lengths and depending on the absorbency spectrum which is unique for every food item, it determines the taste by comparing the values.” Right. And all this is culminated in the robot being able to discern what brand of cheese you’re eating. Note that NEC didn’t say anything about Papero having good taste. So this will probably not be a hot item in France come National Cheese Day.
NEC’s Papero the food tasting robot [New Launches]
https://gizmodo.com/necs-papero-2005-36304
