ChiCaRo

BESCHREIBUNG

ChiCaRo ist ein Consumer-Robot von ChiCaRo. Er ist für Begleiter, Gesellschaft, Bildung ausgelegt. Eckdaten: erschienen 2025.

ChiCaRo is an avatar robot for remote co-parenting of babies and toddlers (about 0-3 years old), made by ChiCaRo Inc. of Tokyo. Grandparents, relatives living far away, or childcare workers operate it from a smartphone or tablet: besides video calls through the face screen, they drive the robot body itself to play physical games with the child, such as tag, hide-and-seek and pretend play, and can chase after a child who has wandered away from the screen. The maker describes it as the only communication device that can hold a meaningful exchange with children who cannot yet talk, using infant-interaction technology and an AI tuned to toddlers' behaviour, and says a University of Electro-Communications study showed it reduces parenting stress. The humanoid-style body has a rounded, bottom-heavy shape designed to resist tipping over and to survive pushing, pulling and hitting by small children. The robot was first developed in 2014 at the university's child-robot communication lab, and the company cites about ten years of development and use in more than 200 households and 30 facilities. In May 2025 it launched 'ChiCaRo Advance', a model for local governments with a development-support system: about 300 'development-promoting games' linked to areas such as language, visual cognition and motor skills, automatic suggestion of games suited to each child, and illustrated 'Try & Play' reports on each child's tendencies for parents and childcare staff. It has won the top prize of the Japan Society of Kansei Engineering Kawaii Kansei Design Award (2024).

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