Jo-Zero Robot = Speed & Humanity

We've been checking out Nakamura's Jo-Zero website and we're happy to report that on at least two critical points he's right on target, unlike most of the current robot kit companies who have totally missed the boat or failed to understand what motivates customers to open their wallets and part with their hard earned cash.

First, success as a company in robotics, especially in humanoid robotics, depends on establishing an emotional connection between the robot and the customer. The customer has to care about the robot deeply, otherwise their relationship will be short and sweet, then the robot will end up in the closet gathering dust or be resold on eBay.

In that regard, Nakamura has positioned Jo-Zero as a very helpful and trustworthy friend. High performance, buy with a distinctly human leaning. In fact, the two key themes chosen for the robot by Nakamura are "Speed" and "Humanity".

Second, it's really important to establish a recogniable brand or character that customers can easily relate with. For this, Nakamura has created a back-story, similiar to what you might expect from Gundam or Majinga.

He has even commisioned the creation of some custom artwork - manga style iillustrations by a famous artist. The first 100 customers ordering Jo-Zero kits will receive autographed originals.

Why don't other robot companies get it?

There are no doubt numerous reasons, but we believe that one primary reason is that the older hobby robot companies started off their official lives as a sub-group within a larger, and often more conservative, servo hardware company.

Their senior management tends to see the world in terms of hardware. As a result it's hard, if not impossible, for them to understand and take meaningful action when the situation requires rapport, humanity, and character.

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Posted by Lem on Jul 8, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments