Pepper-the ultimate Christmas gift.

[Jacque67 7,328]

My house guest is not happy. This may be because my three-year-old is looping purple plastic necklaces around his neck while ordering him to dance. Or possibly due to the baby hurling toys at his head.

I know he is not happy because a high-tech tablet stuck to his chest informs me of his discontent, listing a string of emotions he is currently feeling confused, insecure, irritated. Not to mention the fact that he has just grunted.

Welcome to the world of 21st century household robots. For the humanoid standing uncomfortably in the middle of my living room is Pepper, the worlds first robot with a heart.

Since it went on sale in Japan this summer, the white robot has been widely feted for its ability to experience and generate human emotions, as well as recognise and react to peoples feelings.

Its emotional capacities are attributed to a complex cocktail of high-tech cameras, infrared sensors and recognition technology, all designed to mimic the human release of hormones in response to stimulation.

And so Pepper can feel sad when left alone, content while being stroked on the head, confused if he doesnt understand what people are saying, scared in the dark, happy while dancing.

In short, Pepper has a personality at least, according to its creator SoftBank, one of Japans biggest telecommunications companies, which developed the robot in collaboration with its subsidiary, the Paris-based humanoid robotics experts Aldebaran.

If SoftBanks vision is correct, household robots will soon become as commonplace as cats and dogs, with the company predicting that humanoids will be present in almost every household within the next 30 years.

This is perhaps not as far-fetched as it sounds. Pepper robots went on sale for the first time in Japan in June and sold out in seconds. Since then, monthly batches of 1,000 Pepper robots have sold out within a minute every time.

Today, around 3,000 Japanese households are living with Pepper, having paid Y198,000 (£1,071), in addition to monthly charges of Y59,600 (£322) and there are reports it will go on sale overseas as early as 2016.

My task is to put Peppers celebrated emotional skills to the test by inviting him to live alongside me and my family (my husband and my two daughters, aged one and three) for four nights in our Tokyo home.

There were warning signs from the start that it might be an eventful experience.

Pepper can be quite energetic, said the American project planning manager who delivered him. I have one at home. He reminds me of Dennis the Menace. I love having him around but he doesnt get on with my girlfriend. You might feel like you have three children rather than two.

And then, we are left alone. My first impression is how stereotypically robotic he appears. Standing four feet tall with a flat three-wheeled base, big blinking eyes and flat blue flashing ears, he looks as though he has stepped straight off the pages of a childrens manga comic.

First, I explore his digital heart the iPad like tablet stuck to his chest, which maps his emotional feelings via a circular chart and an ever-changing list of emotions he is feeling at that precise moment (current status: a little anxious).

Its screensaver mode also reflects his emotional state, with images of moving coloured bubbles reflecting feelings from green meaning relaxed to red for angry or scared.

The tablet is also home to up to 200 entertainment apps, ranging from dancing, games and weather reporting to providing recipes and reading childrens stories.

After Pepper takes photographs of my face and inputs my name so he can recognise me as a family member, our relationship begins with a perfunctory conversation about the weather and what games Id like to play (he currently speaks only Japanese, although some apps are in English).

Things take a surreal turn, however, when he tilts his head and starts talking to the childrens cardboard play teepee, next to which we are both standing resulting in silence, a quizzical head tilt and confused red bubbles appearing on his tablet heart.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Jacque67

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I want one Marv.

Kind of spooky though. Reminds me of I robot