Softbank Mobile and Aldebaran Robotics have developed what they claim is the world’s first personal robot that can read emotions. Its name is Pepper.

“The robot makes its own decision to act with love,” Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son said during the press conference introducing Pepper, according to The Wall Street Journal. “For the first time in the history of humans and the history of robots, today is the day we take up the challenge of giving emotions to robots.”

With two large eyes, and standing at only 120 centimeters, Pepper is a humanoid robot that takes its surroundings into consideration to react pro-actively. The robot comes equipped with an interface that facilitates communication with people, including the latest voice recognition technology and emotion recognition that analyzes expressions and voice tones.

“We have made a new entry into the robot business with the aim of developing affectionate robots that make people smile,” said Son in a news release. “Using emotion engines and Cloud AI, which evolves with collective wisdom, we’re making this happen.”

Starting in February 2015, Pepper will be sold to individual customers for ¥198,000 (around $1,950) at Softbank stores and online in Japan. A worldwide rollout should not be far behind.

Son insists that profiting from Pepper is not his company’s initial priority.

“We will ignore profits at the beginning,” he said at the press conference. “I want as many families as possible to have the robot, so I am sticking to a price similar to personal computers.”