SoftBank Robotics documentation What's new in NAOqi 2.5?

Interacting with Pepper

Talking with Pepper

Prerequisite

Autonomous Life: ON

To chat with Pepper:

Step Action

Get close enough, and make sure Pepper has seen you.

Pepper will detect your presence if you approach within five feet (1.5 meter).

For further details, see: How Pepper detects humans.

Check if Pepper is listening: his eyes should be navy blue.

For further details, see: How I know Pepper is listening.

Say a short sentence, in one go.

Pepper takes a little time to process what you said; at this time, his eyes are green. Then he gives you an answer.

Tips

  • What can I say?

    See: Basic Channel - What can I say to Pepper.

  • Pepper says nothing, why?

    If Pepper did not understand what you said, he starts listening again. In this case, you will hear two “bilips” in a row, one when he stops listening, the second when he stats listening again. Repeat lounder or try another sentence.

  • Pepper starts talking before I finished, why?

    Pauses are interpreted as the end of the sentence, so do not hesitate: speak loud and clear, without hesitation.

Calling Pepper

Prerequisite

Autonomous Life: ON

When Pepper has not yet seen you, or is not close enough to be fully listening, he may, however, understand a few words.

Speaking loud enough to be heard, call Pepper with one of the following sentences:

English Japanese Effect
“Pepper” 「ペッパー」 Pepper has a small reaction.
“Hello”, “Hi”

「おはよう(ございます)」

「おやすみ(なさい)」

「ただいま」、「かえったよ」

「いってきます」、「いってくる」、「でかけてくるね」

Pepper has a small reaction.
“Come Here”, “Come Closer” 「こっち来て」、「こっちおいで 」、「ちょっと来て」

If Pepper is able to see you, he asks for confirmation.

If you confirm, Pepper comes closer.

“Pepper Come Here”, “Pepper Come Closer” 「ペッパーこっち来て」、「ペッ パーこっちおいで」、「ペッパー ちょっと来て」 If Pepper is able to see you, he comes closer.

Understanding interaction

How Pepper detects humans

Pepper tries, as much as possible, to establish and keep eye contact with people around.

To do so, Pepper:

Step Action
A Looks in the direction of any detected stimulus - sound, movement, touch.
B

Checks if this stimulus may correspond to a human.

  • If a human is detected, Pepper tries to keep eye contact with him/her,
  • If not, Pepper goes back to his previous occupation.

Limits

Pepper does not react to new stimulus:

  • When processing a stimulus (i.e. checking if it corresponds to a human).

    Pepper does not react to other stimuli until he has finished to process the first one.

  • When engaged in an Activity or a Dialog.

    When Pepper is chatting with a human, he always keeps tracking the human until the human has left.

    When Pepper is in the middle of an Activity, all his actions are exclusively defined by the Activity itself.

How I know Pepper is listening

To make sure Pepper is listening, check his eye LEDs, and pay attention to the slight “blip” sounds.

Eye LEDs feedback

When the eye LEDs are ... Pepper ...
Navy blue, rotating is listening.
Green

has stopped listening.

Pepper is processing what a human just said.

White or pale blue

is not listening, because he:

  • is currently speaking, or
  • has not detected any human presence.

Sound feedback

Additionally, slight “bilip” sounds can be heard when Pepper starts and stops listening:

  • when starting listening, the sound is ascending,
  • when stopping the sound is descending.