Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it will launch in early June in Japan a robot vacuum cleaner capable of recognizing and responding to simple voice commands and questions.
     The Cocorobo robot vacuum cleaner, also equipped with a camera, recognizes more than 30 phrases including ''Clean the room'' and ''How are you?'' and reacts differently depending on such conditions as temperature and the amount of charged battery, Sharp said.
     The cleaner speaks standard Japanese as well as English, Chinese and western Japan's Kansai dialect, used in areas centering on Osaka, where Sharp is based. Photos taken by the camera can be seen on smartphones by downloading an application, the electronics maker said.
     The model equipped with conversation and camera functions will be sold for around 130,000 yen, while the model without these features is expected to be priced at about 90,000 yen.
     It is also equipped with the company's Plasmacluster air purification technology, which generates positive and negative ions that can kill viruses and bacteria, according to Sharp.