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Educators In production

Pepper

SoftBank Robotics / Aldebaran

“The welcome ambassador of social robotics”

Can stand in for

Reception host / front-desk greeter · Retail customer advisor · Educational assistant in classrooms · Event guide and information point

Strength 10
Dexterity 20
Autonomy 40
Empathy 80
IQ 60

In the press

If it were human

“Like a cheerful hotel concierge who never tires of greeting visitors, Pepper combines warmth, curiosity, and an infectious enthusiasm for conversation.”

Pepper is a social humanoid robot developed by Aldebaran and commercialised by SoftBank Robotics. Standing 1.2 metres tall on a smooth wheeled base, it features a humanoid upper body, expressive gestures, and a chest-mounted tablet that serves as an interactive screen. Its core design philosophy is radically different from industrial robots: Pepper exists to communicate, welcome, and engage.

Pepper’s standout skill is emotion recognition — it can read facial expressions and vocal cues to adapt its tone and responses in real time. Whether it’s greeting shoppers in a retail store, guiding students through an educational exercise, or welcoming visitors at a corporate reception, Pepper holds conversations in multiple languages with a natural, upbeat cadence. The integrated tablet adds a visual layer for menus, maps, or multimedia content.

Deployed in schools, hospitals, airports, banks, and shopping centres around the world, Pepper has carved out a genuine niche as a public-facing interface robot. It does not carry heavy loads or perform physical tasks — its superpower is social presence, making spaces feel more approachable and interactive. At our agency, we think of Pepper as the colleague everyone actually wants to run into in the hallway.

Tech sheet

Creator
SoftBank Robotics / Aldebaran
Year
2014
Country
France / Japan
Type
Humanoid
Height
1.2 m
Status
In production
Features
  • Emotion recognition
  • Conversation
  • Chest tablet
  • Wheeled base
  • Humanoid upper body

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Frequently asked questions

What is the Pepper robot?

Pepper is a social humanoid robot developed by Aldebaran and commercialised by SoftBank Robotics. Standing 1.2 metres tall, it features a humanoid upper body, expressive gestures, and a chest-mounted tablet for interactive content. It is designed specifically for communication, engagement, and social presence rather than physical or industrial tasks.

What can the Pepper robot do?

The Pepper robot is built to welcome, converse, and engage with people in public or professional settings. It can recognise facial expressions and vocal cues to adapt its responses in real time, hold conversations in multiple languages, and display menus, maps, or multimedia content via its chest tablet. It is commonly used for greeting visitors, guiding customers, and supporting educational or informational interactions.

Who makes the Pepper robot, and where does it come from?

The Pepper robot was originally developed by Aldebaran, a French robotics company, and later commercialised by SoftBank Robotics, a Japanese corporation. It was first introduced in 2014, making it a product of both French engineering expertise and Japanese commercial scale. This Franco-Japanese collaboration gave Pepper a strong international footprint from the outset.

What are the key physical specs of the Pepper robot?

The Pepper robot stands 1.2 metres tall and moves on a smooth wheeled base rather than legs. Its humanoid upper body is designed for expressive gestures, and a chest-mounted tablet serves as an interactive display screen. No official weight figure has been published by the manufacturer.

Where is the Pepper robot typically deployed?

The Pepper robot has been deployed in a wide range of public-facing environments including schools, hospitals, airports, banks, shopping centres, and corporate receptions worldwide. Its strength lies in social presence — making spaces feel more approachable and interactive — rather than performing physical or load-bearing tasks. It functions essentially as a public-facing interface and conversational assistant.