See the original story in Japanese.

A holographic virtual assistant created in Japan has been unveiled. It’s called Gatebox, displaying 2D characters in hologram image and allowing you to be one with, has finally been brought forth.

The developer Vinclu launched pre-orders on its official website last week and will send them out within December of 2017. The price was set at 298,000 yen (about $2,500) and the shipping destinations are limited to Japan and the US. The firm has been accepting pre-orders since December 14 and will until January 31 of 2017 for the first production lot of 300 items.

The product size is 220mm in width, 360mm in depth, 520mm in height and the weight is 5kg. The projection area for the hologram corresponds to 1280×720 pixels, realizing a visual experience with virtual appearance by projecting images on the panel from the rear portion of the case body. I actually tried a product and found that the projection area was surrounded by the case body in order to support visual recognition even in a bright place.

A girl named Azuma Hikari was adopted as Vinclu’s original character contributed by Taro Minoboshi who were in charge of the character design of a dating simulation game Tokimeki Memorial.

Touch buttons, camera and microphone are equipped on the main body to enable conversation with the character, and it recognizes owner’s movement and makes the character follow by combining information from implemented motion sensors. Using a mobile app available for Android and iOS, users can enjoy online communication with the character linked via Wifi or wired LAN.

Enough spec explanation, let’s see the actual use video. According to Vinclu CEO Minori Takechi, this video was shot using a device and an image actually used for products.

Well, how was it? To be honest, I suppose the road will divide whether you felt a sense of future in it or just a pricey Otaku gadget.

Of course, their concept is in the same context with the artificial intelligence (AI) assistant and the smart home including Amazon Echo, Google Home and Siri. They bring a toilet paper or water if you speak to it, or play an energetic music when you are depressed. Pepper developed by Softbank took the lead in this field, or recently there has been a veteran startup aiming at establishing an “autonomous driving house.”

But those are completely different from Takechi’s purpose. What his team is pursuing is not these rational services. They do not want to develop merely a device just to ask for shopping services to an insipid mechanical box.

He wanted to produce a ‘wife’ so he secured hundreds of millions of yen from investors and actually carried out the plan.

Indeed, the application of Gatebox is still limited though. As you see in the above video, it only exists to communicate or to turn on the light from when the owner wakes up and till bedtime arrives at night. In other word, I think they are crazy to have launched the product focusing only on these functions. Although you can purchase Amazon Echo only for about $200 now, how many people in the world will pay $2,500 for it?

No, some people on this planet may dare to desire this existence due to the limitation of functions conversely. In fact, the viewcount of the promotion movie on Youtube exceeded 300,000.

Gatebox has an interesting feature: an external input. It enables projection of original images from user PCs via HDMI. There must be requests from users to project their own original characters. Takechi recognizes these high demands and will meet them in the future.

This product can be said to be an approach related to “center of home” which is unique to Japan, and how will it be evaluated by the world.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy and Masaru Ikeda

See the original story in Japanese.

Japanese IoT (Internet of Things) startup Vinclu announced on Monday that it is developing Gatebox, a hologram-based communication robot allowing users to enjoy their daily lives with their favorite 2D character. The company also announced that it has fundraised from several Japanese investors to prepare for the launch of the product by a crowdfunding campaign in the fall of 2016. Participating investors in this round are Incubate Fund, Primal Capital, and iSG Investment Works, in addition to loans from various financial institutions are utilized.

The fund gathered totaled some 90 million yen (about $768,000). Along with the funds announced, Hiroshi Sasaki (General Partner, Primal Capital) as external board director and Toru Akaura (General Partner, Incubate Fund) as auditor, joined the management board of Vinclu. As for details such as the third-party shareholdings ratio and fund transfer date have not been disclosed.

Now, some very intriguing products and approaches. As shown in the moving pictures Gatebox has a 2D character as a hologram projected inside the box which can be spoken to for provision such as turning on lamps and setting the alarm. Vinclu CEO Minori Takechi notes that in principle the hologram tech as well as the boxtop projector were those used at a Miku Hatsune concert.

See also:

• Japanese IoT startup Vinclu raises $168,000 for communication robot development
• Japan’s Vinclu launches Indiegogo campaign for light communication appcessory

There are outlooks that during 2016 the Smart Home will become commonplace upon dissemination and in fact many startups related to smart locks and security in Japan.

As of now the role of robots in the Smart Home is within the “home controller” realm. The development of social media our lives have come to adopt lifelogs and updates online without being conscious of them.

Although at first glance the gatebox 2D character is a product with strong “geeky” features, but it is characterized as a versatile controller which makes everyday life smarter. Again as shown before in the moving pictures (and as indicated by the prototype) it is now at the simple consumer electronics control and character operations stage that henceforth is seen operating on respective storage data.

Yet according to Takechi, although specific moves are not ready his main goal currently is to enhance the corporate structure in time for a crowdfunding campaign in the fall.

Recently in Japan SoftBank’s Pepper has shown the possibilities, and this year’s CES saw several Japanese companies garnering attention across the Pacific in Las Vegas. On the other hand there are recurrent problems with robots that constantly require maintenance and occupy space. In view of this the Vinclu software approach that is constantly updated online through use of a hologram offers new possibilities.

Personally (though ignoring the visual aspects) this software approach is seen becoming the ultimate family use form. As an aside, Takechi’s explanation was that not only is the hologram just “for the box” but can be “materialized” in the room as well.

Translated by “Tex” Pomeroy
Edited by Masaru Ikeda