Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Now, the country is taking measures for fighting social isolation with the help of robots. The country has already employed autonomous robots in various fields of life, such as nursing homes and schools. Now, they have added the same in a cafe in Tokyo.
Reportedly, another Tokyo café is opening soon and it will be equipped with robotic waiters and the most interesting part is that those robots will be remotely controlled by disabled people. It's a beautiful way of engaging the people, who have physical disabilities, who are not capable of working otherwise, say netizens.
These anthropomorphic or OriHime-D robots, which would be used at Tokyo's Dawn ver. Beta cafe, are 1.2 meters tall and they are around 20 kilograms in weight. They are equipped with a camera and a speaker. These robots are also capable of streaming live footage to the PC or tablet of the controllers using the internet.
In August, a demonstration was arranged to show how these robots work. One controller, Nozomi Murata, who suffers from autophagic vacuolar myopathy, controlled the system there. Autophagic vacuolar myopathy causes atrophy of skeletal muscles. The control systems of these robots also pack in an eye-tracking input capability.
The café's pilot run would commence from November 26 and it will go on till December 7. Ory Laboratory, the company that developed the robots is also planning to open a permanent cafe with these robot waiters. According to the creators, this could be achieved by 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Japan is one country that heavily uses the assistance of robots in the area of elderly care. Several caregiving institutions in this country employ robots. While they take care of the senior citizens of Japan, they also keep them company.
As per the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, the robotic service industry is supposed to touch $4 billion mark per year by the end of 2035, which will be 25 times more than today's level.
