OREANDA-NEWS A Japanese IT and game development company has signed a contract with a Russian manufacturer of humanoid robot assistants, Idol, for the supply of its products in excess of 250 thousand dollars. This was reported to Forbes by the press service of the Russian developer.

The name of the structure acting as the buyer is not specified for an unknown reason. However, Idol claims that the Japanese themselves got in touch after they first learned about Russian robots at a presentation last November, and then evaluated them at the Dubai International Exhibition in February.

During the Moscow presentation, the robot from "Idol" took a couple of steps across the stage, waved his hand, then lost his balance and fell, losing pieces of skin. Vladimir Vitukhin, CEO of the Russian company, suggested that the incident was due to insufficient lighting or a voltage failure.

Shipments to Japan are scheduled for the second and third quarters of this year. According to Vitukhin, the contract proved that Idol is ready to work in the global market, because Japan has high competition and its own strong technological base.

Alexey Yuzhakov, the leader of the New Technology Coalition, founder and chairman of the Board of directors of Promobot, added that the deal set an important precedent for the Russian market because the industry had moved from demonstrations to real products.

It is assumed that robots from Idol can be used as assistants and administrators. Most of its components — 77 percent — are Russian. In case of mass production, it is planned to increase the share to 93 percent.