A drunk man who reportedly kicked an 'emotion-reading' robot in a fit of rage has been arrested in Japan.
The 60-year-old went into a SoftBank store - which is an international Japanese telecommunications and internet company - and lashed out at the humanoid.
The Japan Times reported that he lost his temper with a member of staff, but took it out on the $1,600 (£1,048) robot instead.
The robot, which has been available to buy since June this year, is an "emotional" robot which can recognise human emotions and respond with simulations of anger, joy and irritation.
It is not known whether the robot reacted to being angrily kicked (AFP)
It is not known whether the robot, called a "Pepper" robot, reacted to being angrily kicked.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police said the man, who is called Kiichi Ishikawa, had admitted to damaging property because he did not like the attitude of a store assistant.
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Security footage showed the drunken Ishikawa kicking the robot, which may have damaged the Pepper robot, police were reported to have said. It now moves more slowly and its internal computer system may have been broken.
When functioning properly, the creators of the Pepper robot say it can tell jokes, read facial expression and voice tone, and even dance for entertainment.
Aldebaran, designers of the robot for SoftBank, say on their site:
"Pepper is the first humanoid robot designed to live with humans. At the risk of disappointing you, he doesn't clean, doesn't cook and doesn't have super powers...
"Pepper is a social robot able to converse with you, recognise and react to your emotions, move and live autonomously."
