To allow a robot to carry out more human-like operation.

An application selecting part 401 determines whether a user is located far or near when informed of a distance from a robot to the user by a distance computing part. In the case of determining that the user is located far, the application selecting part 401 starts a long distance application part 402, and in the case of determining that the user is located near, the application selecting part 401 starts a short distance application part 403. The application selecting part 401 also informs a sound volume control part 404 of a selection signal indicating which of the short distance and long distance is selected. The sound volume control part 404 controls so that outputted voice has the sound volume corresponding to the distance to the user. This constitution is applicable to a humanoid or pet type robot, for instance.