Japan has always been regarded as a technological innovator. Whether it's mobile phones that seem decades ahead of ours or arcade games that make us look like we're still rocking the Atari 2600 we've always looked up to Japan as our technological and electronic superiors.
Now the Japanese are working towards increasing the number of robots and the roles that they can fill. That's right, robots. Check out the scoop over at huffingtonpost.com
TOKYO -- At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust.
Hooked up to a database of words clustered by association, the robot _ dubbed Kansei, or "sensibility" _ responds to the word "war" by quivering in what looks like disgust and fear. It hears "love," and its pink lips smile.
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For Japan, the robotics revolution is an imperative. With more than a fifth of the population 65 or older, the country is banking on robots to replenish the work force and care for the elderly.
In the past several years, the government has funded a plethora of robotics-related efforts, including some $42 million for the first phase of a humanoid robotics project, and $10 million a year between 2006 and 2010 to develop key robot technologies.
The government estimates the industry could surge from about $5.2 billion in 2006 to $26 billion in 2010 and nearly $70 billion by 2025.
In Japan it makes a lot of sense to replace human workers with robots. In other countries it may not apply. In the U.S., where spending is dropping so much that the goverment is on the verge of giving away money, we prorbably don't need to be finding ways to replace human employees with robots, no matter how friendly they become.
Economics be damned, it's pretty cool. The idea that an elderly person who can't afford to hire a live-in helper might be able to have R2-D2 give them a hand around the house is pretty exciting.
There are still a few kinks to be worked out...
At a hospital in Aizu Wakamatsu, 190 miles north of Tokyo, a child-sized white and blue robot wheels across the floor, guiding patients to and from the outpatients' surgery area.
The robot, made by startup Tmsk, sports perky catlike ears, recites simple greetings, and uses sensors to detect and warn people in the way. It helpfully prints out maps of the hospital, and even checks the state of patients' arteries.
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Still, the wheeled machines hadn't won over all seniors crowding the hospital waiting room on a weekday morning.
"It just told us to get out of the way!" huffed wheelchair-bound Hiroshi Asami, 81. "It's a robot. It's the one who should get out my way."
The progress is really amazing. But let's not get carried away.
I'll leave you with a message from Sam Waterston, and Old Glory Insurance.
Personally, I've never "looked up to Japan as my technological and electronic superior". I don't know what that kind of a broad generalization is intended to accomplish, but it certainly doesn't speak for my part of "we".
I do agree with you that this is an interesting story. Economically, it seems that there's little long-term sense in not automating things that can be automated, provided efficiency is gained, regardless of people needing paychecks.
Todd, I would.
They're willing to risk precious capitol on R&D for projects touch American technology companies won't touch. We play it safe. They take risks. If they lose, they lose, but they can drive innovation. Blu-Ray, anyone?