Japanese scientists have unveiled a robot with a sense of humour, and claim it is even capable of knowing when its jokes have fallen flat. The pint-sized roller-skating Emiew2 - pronounced 'emu' - is able to have a short conversation with a human, without being given a script. The red and white robot picks key words from a sentence - for example, 'how many' - to try to work out what question it is being asked, then confirms the inquiry before firing back an answer. Scroll down for video . Hitachi have unveiled their humanoid robot EMIEW2, which they say is capable of telling jokes and understanding when they've had a poor reception. Here it is holding a conversation with an employee during a demonstration at the company's central laboratory in Tokyo on 20 May . Robots have been creeping into our homes, streets and cities - and soon they could be dominating our boardrooms. In a world first, Japanese venture capital firm Deep Knowledge recently named an artificial intelligence (AI) to its board of directors. The robot, named Vital, was chosen for its ability to pick up on market trends ‘not immediately obvious to humans’. Vital is an ‘equal member’ of the Hong Kong-based group and the first ever software program to be appointed as a board member. The robot was developed by Aging Analytics UK who have licensed it out to Deep Knowledge to help make business decisions on therapies for age-related diseases . At a demonstration in Tokyo, the 31-inch (80 cm) tall device answered a question on the number of people working at the Hitachi facility with the somewhat surreal: 'We have two swans.' When its interlocutor appeared puzzled, the robot let on that it had been joking. 'You got it? I'm kidding. We have about 800 people working here,' it 'drolly' revealed. Engineers at Hitachi have programmed the . android to understand a range of human responses, including non-verbal . signals like nods. It uses this comprehension to determine . if the person it is talking to (known as an interlocutor) has got the . 'joke' it has just told, said scientists. Hitachi's Hisashi Ikeda said while the robot's sense of humour may not be very refined at present, the ability to comprehend reactions was an important step forward. 'The new technology makes it possible for a robot to understand what a human means, even if they only gesture,' he said. Emiew2 - its name is an acronym for 'excellent mobility and interactive existence as workmate' - is intended ultimately to provide company in some form, perhaps as a kind of house pet, or even as a receptionist, the company said. The Hitachi humanoid robot Emiew2 is 31 inches (80 centimetres) tall and weighs 14 kilograms (30 pounds). It moves on wheeled legs and is equipped with 14 microphones on its helmet that can pick out human voices from background noise .
A robot known as Emiew2 has been revealed by Japanese scientists .
The small machine is able to hold a short conversation with a human .
Emiew2 is able to pick words from a sentence to work out the question .
It can then provide a 'humourous' response instead of the right answer .
The scientists say it could one day provide companionship to people .
Japanese scientists have unveiled a robot with a sense of humour, and claim it is even capable of knowing when its jokes have fallen flat. The pint-sized roller-skating Emiew2 - pronounced 'emu' - is able to have a short conversation with a human, without being given a script. The red and white robot picks key words from a sentence - for example, 'how many' - to try to work out what question it is being asked, then confirms the inquiry before firing back an answer. Scroll down for video . Hitachi have unveiled their humanoid robot EMIEW2, which they say is capable of telling jokes and understanding when they've had a poor reception. Here it is holding a conversation with an employee during a demonstration at the company's central laboratory in Tokyo on 20 May . Robots have been creeping into our homes, streets and cities - and soon they could be dominating our boardrooms. In a world first, Japanese venture capital firm Deep Knowledge recently named an artificial intelligence (AI) to its board of directors. The robot, named Vital, was chosen for its ability to pick up on market trends ‘not immediately obvious to humans’. Vital is an ‘equal member’ of the Hong Kong-based group and the first ever software program to be appointed as a board member. The robot was developed by Aging Analytics UK who have licensed it out to Deep Knowledge to help make business decisions on therapies for age-related diseases . At a demonstration in Tokyo, the 31-inch (80 cm) tall device answered a question on the number of people working at the Hitachi facility with the somewhat surreal: 'We have two swans.' When its interlocutor appeared puzzled, the robot let on that it had been joking. 'You got it? I'm kidding. We have about 800 people working here,' it 'drolly' revealed. Engineers at Hitachi have programmed the . android to understand a range of human responses, including non-verbal . signals like nods. It uses this comprehension to determine . if the person it is talking to (known as an interlocutor) has got the . 'joke' it has just told, said scientists. Hitachi's Hisashi Ikeda said while the robot's sense of humour may not be very refined at present, the ability to comprehend reactions was an important step forward. 'The new technology makes it possible for a robot to understand what a human means, even if they only gesture,' he said. Emiew2 - its name is an acronym for 'excellent mobility and interactive existence as workmate' - is intended ultimately to provide company in some form, perhaps as a kind of house pet, or even as a receptionist, the company said. The Hitachi humanoid robot Emiew2 is 31 inches (80 centimetres) tall and weighs 14 kilograms (30 pounds). It moves on wheeled legs and is equipped with 14 microphones on its helmet that can pick out human voices from background noise .
Japanese scientists have unveiled a robot with a 'emu' - is able to have a short conversation with and white robot picks key words from a sentence - question on the number of people working at the it is talking to (known as an interlocutor) has that can pick out human voices from background