Minimal child-sized body
The soft torso, bald head and doll-like face have short stumps in place of arms and no legs. The design is meant to resemble any person. [1][3][5]
Price & availability
Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratory has not published a price
Discontinued
Current dataset status: Discontinued.
Other quoted prices
Historical, launch and third-party figures remain separated from the current price.
- target $34,000Aug 1, 2010 · Press
About JPY 3,000,000
Planned research-version price announced at unveiling; AFP gave about USD 34,000 and IEEE Spectrum about USD 35,000. Not a current price
Japan's new robot brings visitors home by video-phone ↗ - target $8,000Aug 1, 2010 · Press
About JPY 700,000
Planned general-use version price announced at unveiling; not a current price
Japan's new robot brings visitors home by video-phone ↗
Product overview
About Telenoid
Telenoid is a teleoperated android from Hiroshi Ishiguro's laboratory, developed with ATR. The original Telenoid R1 was unveiled in Osaka on 1 August 2010. It is a child-sized upper body about 80 cm long and 5 kg, with a soft torso, a bald head, a minimal face and short arm stumps.
The design is deliberately generic so that one unit can represent different remote operators. The lab says an operator's voice and movements are sent over the Internet from a laptop with a sensor headset. A peer-reviewed paper specifies nine degrees of freedom: three for the eyes, one for the mouth, three for the neck and one for each arm. This resolves a robotsguide entry that incorrectly totals those motions as 12.
The developers announced planned prices of about JPY 3 million for a research version and JPY 700,000 for a general-use version. Those are historical targets, not current prices. Robotsguide labels the original 80 cm R1 inactive; later Telenoid versions are smaller and are outside this file.
Capabilities
Key features
Teleoperated presence
An operator's voice and movements are captured on a laptop with a sensor headset and sent over the Internet. An external PC controls the robot. [3][4]
Nine motors
Nine motors drive the eyes, mouth, neck and arm stumps, unlike the pneumatic actuators of Ishiguro's earlier androids. [5][2]
Hardware profile
Specifications
Official — stated by the manufacturer or organizerReported — stated by a credible third partyEstimated — derived or approximate
Body
Mobility
Hands & Manipulation
- DoF per hand
- 0Reported — stated by a credible third party[5]No articulated hands; one DoF moves each arm stump
- Hand / end effector
- None; short stump armsReported — stated by a credible third party[2]
Compute & Sensing
Show unknown fields (8)
Mobility
- Maximum speed
- Not published
- Peak joint torque
- Not published
Power
- Battery
- Not published
- Runtime
- Not published
- Charge time
- Not published
- Swappable battery
- Not published
Hands & Manipulation
- Payload
- Not published
Compute & Sensing
- AI stack
- Not published
Quick answers
Telenoid FAQ
Can you buy Telenoid?
No general order page is verified. Telenoid is currently classified as discontinued. [3]
How tall is Telenoid and how much does it weigh?
Telenoid is 80 cm tall and weighs 5 kg (Telenoid R1, approximate). [5]
How many degrees of freedom does Telenoid have?
Telenoid has 9 listed degrees of freedom; Three eye DoF, one mouth, three neck and one per arm; robotsguide incorrectly totals these as 12. [5]
Who makes Telenoid?
Telenoid is made by Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratory, based in Japan. [3]
Side by side
Compare Telenoid
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Evaluation footprint
Benchmarks & competitions
No benchmark embodiments or results reference this robot yet.
Related
Similar robots
Evidence
Sources
- [1]Telenoid (robotsguide) ↗Robotsguide · database · accessed Oct 8, 2026
- [2]Telenoid R1: Hiroshi Ishiguro's newest and strangest android ↗IEEE Spectrum · press · accessed Oct 8, 2026
- [3]Telenoid project page ↗The University of Osaka Intelligent Robotics Laboratory · official · accessed Oct 8, 2026
- [4]Telenoid R1 - Wikipedia ↗Wikipedia · database · accessed Oct 8, 2026
- [5]Promoting Socialization of Schoolchildren Using a Teleoperated Android: An Interaction Study ↗International Journal of Social Robotics · paper · accessed Oct 8, 2026
- [6]Japan's new robot brings visitors home by video-phone ↗Agence France-Presse via Business Recorder · press · accessed Oct 8, 2026