This robot mascot for Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics was unveiled by Toyota last year. The car giant will also reveal human assistance robots during the Games (Credit: Getty Images)
This police robot acts as eyes and ears for human officers in a different room. Countries like China and South Korea have expressed interest in such tech (Credit: Bryan Lufkin)
Critics call the Telenoid robot creepy, but government officials from around the world have visited this nursing home to see how it helps dementia patients (Credit: Bryan Lufkin)
Hiroshi Ishiguro, famous for creating a robot doppelganger of himself, is one of many that say the robotic solutions in Japan will soon apply everywhere (Credit: Bryan Lufkin)
What the world can learn from Japan’s robots
Japan is changing:
a rapidly ageing society,
influx of visitors from overseas,
and more robots than ever.
That’s where the country’s young people come in. Gen J,
a new series by BBC Worklife,
keeps you up to speed on how the nation’s next generation is shaping the Japan of tomorrow.
In the West,
pop culture and media often frame robots as job-stealing Terminators itching to start a revolution.
In Japan,
they’re often cute and cuddly; anime and manga have depicted robots as things to love.
Others point to a respect for inanimate objects that’s rooted in Shintosim.
BBC Worklife
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200205-what-the-world-can-learn-from-japans-robots