Hikari Azuma, the first character for the Gatebox virtual home robot, is displayed inside the home robot device at the Vinclu Inc. office in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. While Amazon.com Inc. and Google are barreling ahead with efforts to get voice-operated speaker assistants into consumers' homes, Minori Takechi, the Vinclu founder, says these products are too focused on delivering utility. Instead, his Tokyo-based startup is betting that people will want to forge an emotional relationship with a digital assistant. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
When Siri is asked whether she has a boyfriend, the iPhone's digital assistant is usually quick to deflect the question with a quip about drones always trying to pick her up.
For Minori Takechi, founder of Vinclu Inc, that's a missed opportunity.
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