Hasta La Gadget!

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu today announced the launch of the designated official website for the Kibo Robot Project today, which aims at putting a communicative robot into space by 2014.

As of today the website is open for the public to enter their messages which the robot will carry into space to be read out to astronauts. Messages of encouragement and simple communication from the public around the world are aimed at boosting the emotions of the astronauts who will be living on the Japanese Experiment Module, aboard the International Space Station that will orbit earth. Messages can be submitted via twitter or email and there is a ready made logo users can download to add to their Twitter avatars also. Visitors to the site can also browse other messages of support before adding their own.

The site also links to a twitter account, @space_GAL , which will give regular updates to the projects events, and in male dominated Japan it is interesting that the creators have chosen a female figure to be the official twitter reporter. Trying to make the project more “approachable” the idea is to widen the reach of the project to demographics that wouldn’t normally be interested.

The collaboration effort between Dentsu, JAXA, University of Tokyo and Robo Garage is not only aimed at the space program however, but with the wider aim to “help solve the social problems of the future through communication”. With the growing aging society in Japan and a rise in social problems the whole project is trying to address future concerns regarding a lack of communication in a “society of singletons.”

Thanks to Plastic Pals

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