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SoftBank Corp's human-like robot named “Pepper” gestures as it introduces Nestle's coffee machines at an electric shop in Tokyo December 1, 2014. Nestle SA started to use robots to help sell its coffee makers at electronics stores across Japan, becoming the first corporate customer for the chatty, bug-eyed androids unveiled in June by tech conglomerate SoftBank Corp. The waist-high robot, developed by a French company and manufactured in Taiwan, was touted by Japan's SoftBank as capable of learning and expressing human emotions, and of serving as a companion or guide in a country that faces chronic labour shortages. The maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars plans to have the robots working at 1,000 stores by the end of next year, a Nestle official said. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)
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