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MEET ASUS’ ZENBO: THE FAMILY’S PERSONAL ASSISTANT ROBOT Asus has just unveiled a cute talking robot named Zenbo. It was presented at this week’s Computex trade show in Taipei, it’s priced at $599. Zenbo is an adorably- designed, friendly home robot which generally provides assistance, entertainment and companionship to families and it helps address the different needs of the family members. It has numerous capabilities like moving independently and understanding spoken commands. In Asus’ Zenbo video showed some of the robot’s capabilities, like giving reminders, interacting with family members, telling stories to the children, movie streaming, and its face is touch screen too!—which helps the family to connect and browse through the internet. The Chairman of Asus Jonney Shih presented and demonstrated Zenbo at a press conference in Taipei, he gave it various voice commands and asked it questions as it rolled on the stage. A big reason for Asus’s creation of Zenbo is that it could help assist the elderly. According to Asus, Zenbo “helps to bridge the digital divide between generations” by allowing seniors to make video calls and use social networking with simple voice commands. Zenbo can also connect to a smart bracelet which alerts relatives via a smartphone app if their elderly relative has a fall. Photo by: Android Community JULY 2016 Future Cities & Robotics 19