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  (Source: search.japantimes.co.jp)

  (Source: mdn.mainichi.jp)
Will robots make humans more productive or lazier?

Toyota Motor Corp. and the University of Tokyo have jointly developed a prototype robot named “AR” capable of handling household chores according to The Mainichi Daily News. In a demonstration for reporters the robot was able to clean up rooms, put away dishes from a dining table and pickup shirts and put them in a washing machine. The robot was also capable of moving furniture in order to sweep under a table.

The robot is 155 cm tall, weighs 130 kg, and moves around on wheels. This particular robot’s strengths include the ability to distinguish different objects such as furniture and cleaning equipment. Past robots have traditionally had difficulty handling anything other than solid objects, but AR is able to recognize clothes by their creases and actually pick them up, repeating the action should it drop them.

The robot is also able to learn by analyzing past failures and alter its behavior patterns. The robot is equipped with two arms, five recognition cameras and laser sensors. AR's movements are slow and often clumsy, but future improvements are planned according to University of Tokyo Professor Masayuki Inaba who said, "The task now is to improve its efficiency and endurance."

According to Toyota and Tokyo University's Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative, the robot was developed to help ease the future labor shortage looming due to Japan's aging society and low birthrate. The developers said they will keep improving the robot and hope to start marketing it in around seven years.

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Sign me up for the iWife
By Lord 666 on 10/27/2008 10:36:44 AM , Rating: 5
Does almost all of the things a wife needs to do... but will be cheaper in the logn run to outsource for that last important aspect.




RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By judasmachine on 10/27/2008 10:43:11 AM , Rating: 5
You know they will eventually come out with the ones that will do the other things your wife only sometimes does. :p


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By Lord 666 on 10/27/2008 10:47:44 AM , Rating: 2
Cherry 2000!


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By Smartless on 10/27/2008 2:30:28 PM , Rating: 1
Anyone remember that show "In Living Color"? They had that spoof commercial about a car called the Mistress.


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By fibreoptik on 10/27/2008 11:13:53 AM , Rating: 2
please be more specific, I don't understand...


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By NainoKami on 10/27/2008 12:13:37 PM , Rating: 5
I'm looking forward to the model that will do the things a wife would NEVER do! :)


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By CloudFire on 10/27/2008 1:48:21 PM , Rating: 2
the answer for lonely males everywhere ;) and by that...i mean cleaning up your dishes/laundry /sarcasm ^_~


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By AnnihilatorX on 10/27/2008 4:55:54 PM , Rating: 2
in the lewd way!


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By DeepBlue1975 on 10/28/2008 8:52:40 AM , Rating: 2
like taking the trash out? :)


By Seemonkeyscanfly on 10/29/2008 2:12:46 PM , Rating: 3
You missed a couple: wash the car, paint the house, fix the sink, cut the grass, get me a beer after she's done cutting the grass, not ask "does this make my a** look big?", try to explain how she saved money by buying things at a sale even though we did not need that item.... :)


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By foolsgambit11 on 10/28/2008 1:08:59 PM , Rating: 2
Just don't go crazy in a flooding kitchen....

I can't even remember the name of that 80's movie. Any help?


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By BushStar on 10/29/2008 6:57:07 PM , Rating: 2
Chery 2000 ><


RE: Sign me up for the iWife
By jlips6 on 10/28/2008 8:24:55 PM , Rating: 2
well, it is japan...


i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By someguy123 on 10/27/2008 11:52:08 AM , Rating: 2
but really, japan is starting to get pretty damn close to having robots that can perform any mundane, labor intensive task. what happens to the lower class when corporations can (and will) have robots doing their grunt work?




RE: i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By bribud on 10/27/2008 12:02:30 PM , Rating: 1
Someone has to keep the robots lubricated...


By Murloc on 10/27/2008 12:17:47 PM , Rating: 2
and repair them, for simple problems it doesn't need much instruction.


By mars777 on 10/28/2008 10:51:25 PM , Rating: 3
But you forgot to say that in Japan and its standards, doing that position you in the average/high class compared to other countries.

Seriously, there are jobs in Japan like massaging cows to have better meat. And they are paid exactly three times my programmer salary...

PS: The last paragraph was not sarcastic.


RE: i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By Muirgheasa on 10/27/2008 12:44:17 PM , Rating: 2
Bad things, basically. You'll end up with a large homeless underclass, or at best a huge part of the population dependent on social welfare (depending on the coutry). Marshall Brain has a great article on it at http://www.marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm

Plenty of food for thought there, and something that's going to define this generation's impact on history, potentially. Interesting times, these...


RE: i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By KingstonU on 10/27/2008 3:07:16 PM , Rating: 2
Another point to remember is that in certain countries like Japan, most of modern Europe and North America, we are actually short of people to do labor jobs now that the birth rate is declining . So if your birth rates are down to about 2-3 children per family, there is less need for labor jobs. Obviously that is only one aspect of the whole situation.


By afkrotch on 10/28/2008 3:31:16 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Another point to remember is that in certain countries like Japan, most of modern Europe and North America, we are actually short of people to do labor jobs now that the birth rate is declining .


Japan is hardly short of ppl to do labor jobs. They have way too many ppl for them. I lived in Japan for 2 years and the government will just make up jobs for them.

Some examples...

Parking garages have that little booth that spit out your parking stub. They will actually have ppl next to those booths to pull out the ticket and hand it to you or take your ticket and money, then put it in the booth.

Also traffic guiders at road work. They'll have 5-7 ppl directing traffic, even though after hours, they have a little traffic light that does the exact same thing.

Just because birth rates are down, doesn't mean that they won't have workers. Immigration fills the hole.


RE: i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By Ringold on 10/27/2008 4:00:28 PM , Rating: 4
Well, if people were motivated enough to improve their own lot in life, they'd acquire technical skills necessary in an information-age economy, such as the one we're in/transitioning in to.

But if people were motivated, we wouldn't have a lower class as it is, or inner city crime, etc.

Shoot them?


RE: i know it's kind of a cliche joke now
By ShaolinSoccer on 10/27/2008 5:10:09 PM , Rating: 2
No such thing as labor jobs being non-existent...

And even if the future is full of robots that can do all the hard labor jobs, you're still gonna need humans to do things robots won't be able to do or do efficiently. People are still gonna want human contact.


By timmiser on 10/27/2008 6:27:46 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, especially when I call a customer service phone number for something really important... Like say my bank.

Oh wait, too late. Already taken over by robots...


By afkrotch on 10/28/2008 3:35:16 AM , Rating: 2
As robots advance and so does their AI, it'll get to the point where labor jobs will be non-existent. I doubt you can name a job that a robot wouldn't be able to do. Just think of Data from Star Trek and then think of something a human would have to do.


By winterspan on 10/27/2008 8:27:53 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, I disagree. I think the situation *could* be much more positive if we have the right leaders with the right vision of the future. The increased efficiency and productivity resulting from the coming "robotic revolution" and other science & technology improvements could ease the looming transition of the world from a state of uncontrolled population growth and resource shortages to a new era of sustainability.
Many of the problems cited when discussing intentional population reduction like labor shortages and the issue of having a much larger ratio of elderly retirees and social-security recipients compared to the total labor force could be eliminated or at least considerably attenuated. The biggest expenses of the elderly are routine healthcare and long-term 24 hour a day assistance that many will need. You would think at least a significant amount of the costs of care in both nursing homes and hospitals could be reduced with future technology like robotic assistants, tele-medicine, improvements in surgery/organ transplants/artificial joints, "bionic" exo-skeleton type devices for physically disabled patients, etc.
Coupled with greater producitivity per laborer in manufacturing, services, etc, it might be possible.


Wouldn't it be easier
By Suntan on 10/27/2008 1:15:30 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
the robot was developed to help ease the future labor shortage looming due to Japan's aging society and low birthrate.


Wouldn't it be easier to just ship them some Mexicans? It works for us.

-Suntan




RE: Wouldn't it be easier
By lagomorpha on 10/28/2008 12:15:17 AM , Rating: 2
There are already communities of mainlanders in Japan to help with their labor shortage, but many Japanese people have a strong tendency toward xenophobia.


RE: Wouldn't it be easier
By foolsgambit11 on 10/28/2008 1:11:18 PM , Rating: 2
Just like Suntan.


But will it do windows?
By Gzus666 on 10/27/2008 10:48:26 AM , Rating: 2
...seriously, they are getting dirty.




RE: But will it do windows?
By Spivonious on 10/27/08, Rating: -1
RE: But will it do windows?
By Baov on 10/27/2008 5:08:07 PM , Rating: 1
Used to be doom 3 on top of that.


RE: But will it do windows?
By foolsgambit11 on 10/28/2008 1:12:18 PM , Rating: 2
Um, used to be Doom. No 3.


armed and dangerous
By Baov on 10/27/2008 5:01:48 PM , Rating: 2
Did they just say LASERS! The robot has lasers, zomg *runs*




RE: armed and dangerous
By timmiser on 10/27/2008 6:32:32 PM , Rating: 2
Not just "Lasers"... "FREAKIN LASER BEAMS!!"


By archangel2021 on 10/27/2008 10:39:44 AM , Rating: 2
that looks very good, i just hope i make it 50-60 more years that way i can become full cyborg and live another 100-200 years.

I think robotics is going as fast as personal computing has gone in the past 50 years.

It's amazing to think what the world will be like in 50 years.




sweet
By Samus on 10/27/2008 10:40:02 AM , Rating: 2
so this is what toyota is doing with all its money :P can't really call it a waste, although it is unfortunately j-specific in concept :(




Robin Williams Is Not Amused
By DtTall on 10/27/2008 10:43:13 AM , Rating: 2
Who knew that Bicentennial Man was based on a true story?




oh yes
By piroroadkill on 10/27/2008 11:01:14 AM , Rating: 2
So.. much.. win..

I want one!




Too much money?
By DeltaZero on 10/27/2008 1:15:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
the robot was developed to help ease the future labor shortage looming due to Japan's aging society and low birthrate

There seem to be more than enough immigrants willing to do those jobs in Europe and America, and Japan is right next to China!




Meet the Jetsons!
By spiro80 on 10/27/2008 2:30:20 PM , Rating: 2
All it needs now is voice synth and sharp witted attitude and I can have have my very own Rosie!!




One step closer!
By KaiserCSS on 10/27/2008 4:46:15 PM , Rating: 2
Go on Japan, I want to see robo-maids before I die, I know you can do it !




Go Robot Technology (^_^)
By Chipper Smoltz DT on 11/5/2008 9:09:58 AM , Rating: 2
It's funny, but I do hope that they could come up with more sophisticated robots in the future. I know that there are some that are more specialized in special tasks compared to others but I view this as something positive.

Why positive, imagine all those tasks that are dangerous and done in hazardous conditions that a human is supposed to do? Like for example, trying to diffuse a bomb or diffuse land mines in a "mine-field" or maybe trying to put down a chemical fire... those kinds of things.

I know that nothing can replace human ingenuity and thinking but I know for a fact as well, that nothing can replace a human life. So, in cases such as those I've discussed, robots could take the place of us humans.

I see so much potential for these robots for deep space exploration and for Mars advanced colonization and terra-forming. They don't need air, water or food. They could have built-in batteries that could be recharged by a recharging station with solar panels, so when they need to be powered up, they could just hook something to the "recharging station".

Another advantage aside from being dispensable is that they could be more precise at repeating special tasks over and over again, unless they malfunction.

I do hope that they could build more sophisticated robots in the future.




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