News: Companion and social robot

Companion and social robots: robot pets, desk companions, social robots for the home, for children or for older people.

• Japan: crowdfunding drive to give the LOVOT robot to more than 500 children's homes

  Japanese company GROOVE X will launch a second crowdfunding campaign in mid-November 2026 to donate its LOVOT companion robot to homes that care for children in state care.

  20 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• Buddy, the 60 cm companion robot that goes from joy to sulking

  Built by Blue Frog Robotics, Buddy is a small social robot designed for schools, older people and public reception.

  14 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• Kawasaki readies Home LEO, a robot dog that watches over elderly people, with a 2028 launch targeted

  According to the Korean site Robot Newspaper, Japanese group Kawasaki Heavy Industries has developed a prototype social robot to help elderly people stay in their own homes.

  18 October 2026 · Announced on 11 October · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• In New York, older people talk to ElliQ 48 times a day, their companion against loneliness

  The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is extending its partnership with Intuition Robotics, which supplies the ElliQ companion to older people at risk of loneliness.

  10 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• EMO, the little desk robot that catches cold and sneezes when it gets chilly, waits to be looked after

  EMO is a companion robot designed to live on a desk. It explores its surroundings on its own and reacts to its owner with expressions and movements.

  10 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• Qoobo, the cushion robot with no face or voice that communicates only by wagging its tail

  Yukai Engineering presents Qoobo as a therapeutic robot with no face and no voice, which communicates only with its tail.

  9 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

• RoBoHoN, Sharp's small robot that sings, dances and makes calls in its LTE version at 239,800 yen

  Sharp offers RoBoHoN in three versions. According to its specification sheet, the small robot recognises voices and faces, sings and dances.

  8 October 2026 · Brief · Written with AI assistance, checked automatically

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