When it comes to the latest gadget news, Japan seems to be running ahead of the world and has been there for some time now. But what exactly does the country have that the rest of us don’t? Well, it looks like Japan is not afraid to get up, close and personal with their technology. In fact, they are not scared to interact with the technology they produce. What I am trying to get at is that Japan produces robots that the people aren’t afraid of getting close to and interacting with. Unlike the United States of America where people have been bought up on fear of robots because they are killing machines, Japan encourages its people to share a bond with the robots there.
A robotic professor at the University of Tokyo, Tomotaka Takahashi, designs robots that look and behave like humans do and he believe that they are the future. These robots can coexist with humans and learn emotions and evolve while living with the humans. Japan has already shown us how these robots are so far advanced in the likeness of Pepper. Another wonderful example is the Aibo dog that people took home and got so attached to that they would have funerals for the robotic dogs when they would break down. On the other hand, America feels that they should portray robots as big, bad creatures that are out to get us and kill us. Terminator was a clear example of that.
Robots are going so far in Japan that they are about to implement them in airports to help passengers with anything. Japan has the most amount of robots as well as robot exhibitions to showcase their inventions. But what if there was a robot that could take the place of your smartphone? Would you believe it? Well, you better because there already is one and it was invented by Takahashi himself.
Robotic Smartphone: Takahashi’s newest robots aim at replacing your smartphone in ways that could never be done by the device itself. If you remember the Astroboy cartoon, these robots are made to look like them and act like them as well. They learn your likes and dislikes and memorize them for future reference. They can take down notes and notify you when it comes up. They can tell you the weather when asked, clean and tidy up and act as a house security system. Takahashi says that the robot will be no bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus which means you can keep it in your pocket. There you go, a smartphone in the shape of a robot.