Japan – in the hands of robots

Robots

Inserts:

• Luo Zhiwei, Riken Bio-Mimetic Research Centre
• Takanori Shibata, creator of “Paro”

Inserts:

Reporter: Alexander Steinbach

Camera: Tomoo Itoh

Editor: Peter Weiss

0`23 K

He moves as fluidly as a human. In Japan robots have become so much a part of everyday life that no one gives them a second thought any more.

0`48 K

Occasionally even official visitors find themselves going to shake hands with them.  The zeal and enthusiasm of large Japanese businesses for their mechanical robotic friends is deeply entrenched. Unlike in Europe where robots are portrayed as cartoons in computer graphics and comics, in Japan the image of robots is a completely positive one. In the future, armies of these metal creatures will stay by the side of, and care for people as though they were their partner and companion.

1`20 K

Robots are thought to be the future in care and support services. In an experimental laboratory in Nagoya, we are introduced to Ri-Man. He is the newest prototype of the care robot. He can both see and hear. He is oblivious to smells, and he can assess and evaluate the health and condition of an individual. A network of sensors under his silicon epidermis ensures that the robot can track human movement with his eyes.

However Ri-Man seems to have a sort of independent existence of his own. Something is evidently irritating him during the shooting of this film.

2`12 K

Ri-Man really should have let go of the doll. For some incomprehensible reason, he holds on tight. The scientists give way. Back to the drawing board.  Ri-Man has to be reprogrammed.

It is still dangerous and unpredictable to let such heavy creatures lift old age pensioners in and out of the bath tub, or simply run around alone in a house.

2`40 K

Robots are unable to express any emotion in their communication with humans – that is quite a major problem, as the expert explains.

2`52 OT Luo Zhiwei. Riken Bio-Mimetic Research Centre

“We still have to overcome several challenges, for example the question of security. There is also the question of how does one educate users to assemble and utilise Ri-Man correctly. I consider it possible that these hurdles will be tackle and overcome within the next five to ten years. Time is pressing.”

3`25 K

Until now, three generations of the same Japanese family would often live as one household, under the same roof. That phenomenon is becoming rarer and rarer. Robots are starting to be looked upon as an alternative way of caring for pensioners, a solution to the problem of provision for old age.

One wants to avert mass immigration at any price in Japan – however who is to care for the aged?

4`03 OT Luo

“I guess we could persuade quite young people to come to Japan to work as nurses and carers of the old. However we must consider that it is not only Japan that has a large number of geriatrics. Our neighbouring countries, China and Korea, have the same problem. We should not have to wait for, or rely upon, foreigners to solve our problems.”

4`35 K

Ri-Man and Co will probably be first deployed as nurses for geriatrics by the time today’s internet generation reaches retirement age. The robots are currently lacking a decisive characteristic – emotional intelligence. They will need to become much smarter.

4`55 K

Another, to date, unsolved issue with this generation of robots is devising the best way to make them acceptable to the people who will be using them. Expert technicians in high tech workshops are working hard at developing humanoid and manlike robots. It is amazing how people react to microchips.

5`30 OT Luo

“A matter that is a cause of concern for us is the question whether humans would be able to communicate with robots directly through brainwave power. At the moment communication takes place through facial expressions or language. However interaction through brain activity would be another channel of contact. Through new developments in technology it would become possible for us to facilitate immediate intuitive communication.”

6`10

Robots with a certain degree of mental capability already exist.  One of the most famous of these is Paro, an interactive crawling baby. This sophisticated robot can recognize its name and adapt its behaviour pattern to circumstances.

06`46 OT Takanori Shibata, inventor of Paro

“Geriatrics suffering from dementia often cry out, if they are afraid, or in a bad mood. Their disposition undergoes a complete transformation if they play with Paro. Older people are often unable to articulate what they want to say, or else they get confused. However, suddenly Paro’s help can find them speaking fluently and apparently functioning completely normally again”

7`25 K

In a few decades robot will have become so lifelike in appearance, function and personality that it will be difficult to distinguish them from humans, however far fetched and unimaginable that prospect may seem today. With any luck, though, it will indeed be a good few decades before robots can be fully deployed to perform just as efficiently as humans.

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