In the technological wave of the 21st century, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is undoubtedly one of the most transformative forces. It not only reshapes the technology ecosystem, but also profoundly affects our lifestyle and work mode.
Recently, the field of artificial intelligence has ushered in another blockbuster news-Doubao Real-time Voice Model is officially launched and fully open in Doubao App. It is reported that Doubao Real-time Voice Model is a model that integrates speech understanding and generation, realizing end-to-end voice dialogue.
Relying on the joint modeling of speech and semantics, Doubao Real-time Voice Model presents a voice expression level close to that of real people, and has amazing performance in voice expression, control, and emotional acceptance. It also has low latency and can be interrupted at any time during the conversation. It is known as "high emotional intelligence and high IQ".
From the technical display released by Doubao, the biggest highlight of Doubao Real-time Voice Model is its outstanding performance in voice interaction. When the model is performing voice interaction, its voice tone is natural and emotional fullness is close to that of real people, the dialogue style is more human, the emotional understanding is deeper, and the user's emotions are better accepted.
In recent years, with the rapid development of society, people's demand for emotional communication and spiritual comfort has increased significantly. Among them, AI companion robots, as an emerging product that meets emotional needs, are gradually entering people's daily lives. They are not only "little experts" with basic operating skills, but also "life partners" who can engage in more natural and smooth dialogue and communication with humans, providing users with more intimate and humane services.
The launch of Doubao's real-time voice model has injected new vitality into the development of AI companion robots with its significant progress and comprehensive improvement in voice interaction. This breakthrough not only greatly enhances the fluency and naturalness of communication between AI companion robots and human users, but also further broadens its potential in emotional communication, personalized services, and scene adaptability.
"Charming" new favorite of technology
In fact, in the past two years, AI companion robots have leapt to the center of the technology stage and become the focus of everyone's attention.
At the CES 2025 exhibition held not long ago, a group of soft and cute AI companion robots made a stunning appearance. With their cute appearance design, thoughtful practical functions and highly intelligent interaction mode, they not only became one of the most eye-catching focuses of the exhibition, but also deeply captured the love and favor of many people.
For example, the new product launched by Yukai Engineering, a startup company in Tokyo, Japan, is a small furry "companion" robot Mirumi. Officials say it can imitate the curiosity of babies. Its built-in sensors can detect the surrounding environment and turn its head to interact with nearby people or objects, which can be described as "cute".
It is understood that Mirumi is usually hung on the strap of a handbag. By combining distance sensors and inertial measurement units to sense the surrounding movement, Mirumi will respond differently according to the sensed situation. If a stranger suddenly approaches or touches it, Mirumi will do the opposite, turning its head and showing a shy reaction like a baby. Mirumi is not just a companion robot, it can also bring joy to others.
Ropet, the first AI companion robot launched by Mengyou Intelligent, combines vision, sound sensors and AI technology to recognize human movements and emotions and respond accordingly through long-term learning.
According to the introduction, Ropet's appearance design is highly customizable, and its fur color and facial features (both interchangeable) and a variety of accessories allow it to present a diverse appearance. In addition, Ropet's nose is equipped with a camera that can recognize different types of food, and it also has a music sensing function that can dance when it detects music playing around it. When connected to a WiFi network, the built-in AI system will interact with the user.
TCL also released the world's first split AI companion robot, Ai Me, which not only has a cute and smart appearance and a unique split design, but also has a powerful multi-modal interaction capability. It can not only use voice, but also vision, action and other methods to achieve smooth and natural interaction, providing users with warmer emotional care and anthropomorphic interaction. In addition, it can also serve as a control center for the family, linking air conditioners, lights, air purifiers and other equipment to help users optimize the home environment.
Precise positioning, each shines
In recent years, with the continuous evolution of AI technology, the application scope of machine learning has been continuously expanded from text, images, videos and other modalities to more advanced and complex emotion recognition fields. With the development of emotion recognition technology, companion robots are gradually upgrading from simple toy positioning to real partners.
At present, based on a deep understanding of the specific needs of different groups and diversified application scenarios, AI companion robots can be roughly divided into three categories:
First, for children, AI companion robots are transformed into smart toys in the form of entertaining and educational activities. They not only interact with children intelligently and bring fun to children, but also cultivate their language expression ability and creativity in the interaction; in addition, they can also monitor children's health and safety in real time, providing parents with more reassuring care.
Second, for the adult world that pursues spiritual comfort and personalized experience, AI companion robots have transformed into AI pets/emotional robots. In the fast-paced modern society, more and more people are also eager for emotional comfort in their busy lives. The emergence of AI pets/emotional robots provides people with a new way of emotional sustenance. They can not only chat with users to relieve boredom, but also perceive users' emotional changes through emotion recognition technology and give appropriate responses; they can also customize exclusive content according to users' preferences, such as music recommendations and daily reminders.
Third, focusing on the elderly group who need more care and companionship, AI companion robots are transformed into caring life assistants and health managers. With the deepening of global aging, the life care and emotional needs of the elderly have become the focus of social attention. The existence of AI companion robots for the elderly can not only monitor the physiological indicators of the elderly and timely warn of potential health risks, but also help them stay socially active and relieve loneliness through warm communication and reminders, greatly improving the quality of life and happiness of the elderly.
Trillion-level potential market
At present, with the continuous advancement of technology and the gradual reduction of costs, consumers' acceptance of AI companion robot products is constantly increasing. From children's smart toys to adults' stress relief partners, to the caring guardians of the elderly, the demand for AI companion robots will grow day by day, and its market size will continue to expand.
According to Betzers Consulting, the global companion robot market size will be 75 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to reach 304.3 billion yuan in 2029, with a CAGR of 25.56% from 2024 to 2029, showing rapid growth. Guotai Junan Research Report said that the potential market demand for companion robots in China is nearly 1 trillion yuan.
It can be seen that AI companion robots show strong market growth potential. In the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, AI companion robots are expected to achieve faster growth, and their future development will be full of infinite possibilities, showing their unique value and charm in more fields.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
