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"In terms of technology, several companies in the world including
this one have enough technology accumulated to make them swiftly
once it becomes clear which usage is promising," Sony Chief
Technology Officer Hiroaki Kitano told Reuters in an interview.
"The key is the development of application," Kitano said.
Sony launched a robot dog called Aibo more than two decades ago. It
sold about 150,000 units of Aibo from 1999 until 2006 and launched
an advanced version in 2018, selling about 20,000 units in the first
six months.
Humanoid robots have been in development for decades by Honda Motor
Co and Hyundai Motor Co and in September, Tesla Chief Executive Elon
Musk showed off a prototype of its humanoid robot Optimus.
Musk's company is floating plans to deploy thousands of the robots
in its factories, expanding eventually to millions around the world.
Kitano said Sony, armed with expertise in audio-visual technology
and rich entertainment content including music and video games, was
well positioned to play a major role in the metaverse, or immersive
virtual worlds.
The metaverse is a vague term encapsulating the idea that consumers
will spend more time in online simulated environments. While the
concept is evolving, it has become a buzzword in briefings and a
driver of industry earmarking.
"As for the metaverse, it's not like people would show up just
because you've created a venue ... Content is what makes or breaks
the metaverse."
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Editing by Louise Heavens, Robert
Birsel)
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