Is this our future? Photo: 123rf.com
There was a time when the idea of an autonomous robot seemed pure fantasy – something imagined by fiction writers and brought to life on the television or movie screens. Not any more. From self parking cars and robotic vacuum cleaners that can navigate corners to Pepper, the humanoid robot that can be found in sushi shops and nursing homes and Aibo, the pet robot dog, robots are already among us and look like they will be here to stay in years to come.
In Japan, one of the world leaders in the development of jinkou chihou (artificial intelligence or AI) and robotics, robots are being developed at light-speed, largely to address the needs and shortages it faces. Carebots (robots to help with care giving duties) are being developed to cope with the country’s rapidly ageing population while service robots address the shortage in the labour force in specific areas.
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