TOKYO Kaname Hayashi, who led the team that developed SoftBank Group's Pepper humanoid robot, is again in the spotlight, having recently set up a venture company to create a device that has a genuine personality and inspires real affection.
Hayashi established Groove X in Tokyo in November 2015, a few months after leaving Japanese telecom company SoftBank. He hopes to have the new robot up and running by 2019.