Simple Operation for All Ages

BOCCO features a simple design with a red nose for volume control, and buttons on its belly for playback (left) and recording (right). Its intuitive operation makes it easy for everyone, from young children to the elderly, to learn how to use it.

Shunsuke Aoki, the representative of YUKAI Engineering and the developer of BOCCO, who is also a father, began developing a robot for family communication with the sentiment, "I want to prioritize conversations with my children over seeing what acquaintances ate for lunch on social media."

Aoki's most frequent use is sending messages to BOCCO at home from his smartphone while he's out. He can send recorded voice messages or text messages through the dedicated smartphone app, and when someone at home presses the playback button, BOCCO will read the message aloud with charming gestures.

Conversely, you can also record a voice message for BOCCO at home by pressing the record button and send it back to your smartphone app.

Sensor Notifies Door Openings/Closings

Aoki also recommends the function that uses a vibration sensor to "detect if a room door has been opened." All detected information from the included "building block sensor" is sent to the smartphone app, making it useful for knowing when children have returned home or checking on elderly family members living apart.

Aoki states, "We plan to add two more sensor functions in the future: an illuminance sensor to detect if the room lights are on, and a magnetic sensor to detect if windows are open."


BOCCO itself is equipped with Wi-Fi. Setup can be easily done through the smartphone app, and in addition to the iPhone app, a free Android app (compatible with Android 4.4 and later) has also been released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiWEhdBeQmA&feature=player_embedded

Communication Robot "BOCCO"
Price | ¥31,320
Accessories | AC adapter, sensor, double-sided tape, sensor strap, 2x AAA batteries, app download manual