• Menu
  • Menu
  • News
  • Subscribe now
    Digital subscription Print subscription
  • Logout
Digital subscription
Print subscription
Trending
UAE holidays 2022 Golf in UAE Gratuity Calculator Qatar World Cup 2022
  • Latest News
  • UAE
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Health
      • Why Worry
    • Transport
    • Science
    • Weather
    • Ask the Law
    • Reader Complaint
    • UAE's Hope Probe
  • Living In UAE
    • Visa+Immigration
    • Housing
    • Phone+Internet
    • Banking
    • Transport
    • Health
    • Education
    • Relocate
    • Ask Us
    • Safety+Security
  • UAE Success Stories
  • Business
    • Banking
    • Aviation
    • Property
    • Energy
    • Analysis
    • Tourism
    • Markets
    • Retail
    • Corporate News
  • Best Buys
    • Electronics
    • Home and Kitchen
    • Offers
    • Consumables
    • Lifestyle
  • Your Money
    • Saving and Investment
    • Budget Living
    • Taxation
    • Expert Columns
    • Community Tips
    • Cryptocurrency
  • Food
    • Cooking and Cuisines
    • Guide to Cooking
    • Videos
  • Friday
    • Beauty
    • Wellbeing
    • Art & People
    • Home
  • Games
    • Daily Crossword
    • Sudoku
    • Word Search
    • Spell It
    • Play
  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy & Baby
    • Learning & Play
    • Child Health
    • For Mums & Dads
    • Ask Us
    • Games
  • Discounts
  • Play Games
  • Magical Dubai
    • Dubai Life
    • Live the Luxury
    • Culture and History
    • Adventure
    • Staying Connected
  • World
    • Gulf
      • Bahrain
      • Kuwait
      • Oman
      • Qatar
      • Saudi
      • Yemen
      • Games
    • Mena
    • Europe
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia
      • India
      • Pakistan
      • Philippines
    • Oceania
    • Offbeat
    • Coronavirus
    • Infographics
    • Special Reports
    • Corrections
  • Special Reports
  • Photos
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Readers' Photos
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Op-Eds
    • Letters
    • From the Editors
  • Sport
    • UAE Sport
    • Horse Racing
      • Dubai World Cup
    • Cricket
      • IPL
        • Chennai
        • Delhi
        • Punjab
        • Kolkata
        • Mumbai
        • Rajasthan
        • Bangalore
        • Hyderabad
        • Gujarat
        • Lucknow
        • Live Scores
        • Point Table
        • Top Scorers
      • ICC
    • Motorsport
    • Football
    • Tennis
    • Rugby
    • Golf in UAE
      • UAE
      • World
      • Photos & Videos
      • Course Reviews
      • Learn to Play
      • Gear
  • Entertainment
    • Hollywood
    • Bollywood
    • Pakistani Cinema
    • South Indian
    • Arab Celebs
    • Music
    • TV
    • Books
    • Theatre
    • Arts+Culture
  • Expo 2020
    • News
    • Photos
    • Pavilions
    • Visit the Expo
    • Experience the UAE
    • Entertainment
    • Videos
  • Going Out
  • Auto
    • News
    • Test Drives
    • Car Culture
    • Auto Care
  • Lifestyle
    • Health+Fitness
    • Community
    • Fashion
  • GN Reach
  • Jobs
  • Tech
    • Electronics
    • Gaming
    • Media
  • Videos
    • How-To
    • Best Of Bollywood
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Business
    • Sport
    • Community
    • Technology
  • Travel
  • GN Focus
    • Special Features
  • Qatar World Cup 2022
    • Teams
    • Travel
    • News & Views
  • Mind Your Migraine
  • 50 MENA Leaders
  • The Kurator
    • Share
    • Dare
    • Flair
  • Bayat Chapters
  • Gold-Forex
  • Gratuity Calculator
  • Notifications
  • Gold/Forex
  • Prayer Times
  • Cinema Listing
  • Newsletters
  • About Gulf News
  • Contact us
  • Work with us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Gulf News store
  • Advertise with us
  • Reach by GN
  • GN Focus
  • Gulf News epaper
  • Sitemap
  • Have your say
  • © Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2022. All rights reserved.
    Photos: Tokyo robot cafe offers new spin on disability inclusion

    Photos

    Login / Sign Up
    Logout
    Thursday, August 11, 2022
    Gold / Forex

    Photos News

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Readers' Photos
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Sports
    All Sections

    Photos: Tokyo robot cafe offers new spin on disability inclusion

    Dawn cafe offers job opportunities to people who find it hard to work outside the home


    Published:  August 20, 2021 16:53 AFP  and  Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

    1 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Tokyo: At a Tokyo cafe, Michio Imai greets a customer, but not in person. He's hundreds of kilometres away, operating a robot waiter as part of an experiment in inclusive employment. Dawn cafe's robots are intended to be more than a gimmick, offering job opportunities to people who find it hard to work outside the home. Image Credit: AFP
    2 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    "Hello. How are you?" a sleek white robot shaped like a baby penguin calls from a counter near the entrance, turning its face to customers and waving its flippers. Imai is behind the controls at his home in Hiroshima, 800 kilometres away, one of around 50 employees with physical and mental disabilities who work as Dawn's "pilots", operating robot staff. Image Credit: AFP
    3 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Miniature humanoid robots named OriHime. The cafe opened in central Tokyo's Nihonbashi district in June and employs staff across Japan and overseas, as well as some who work on site. It was originally supposed to open last year to coincide with the Paralympics, but the opening was postponed by the pandemic - just like the Games, which begin on Tuesday. Image Credit: AFP
    4 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Around 20 miniature robots with almond-shaped eyes sit on tables and in other parts of the cafe, which has no stairs and smooth wooden floors large enough for wheelchairs. The machines named OriHime feature cameras, a microphone and a speaker to allow operators to communicate with customers remotely. Image Credit: AFP
    5 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    "May I take your order?" one asks, next to a tablet showing a menu of burgers, curry and salad. As customers chat with the pilots operating the mini robots, three larger, humanoid versions move around to serve drinks or welcome customers at the entrance. And there's even a barista robot in a brown apron at the bar that can make coffee with a French press. Image Credit: AFP
    6 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    But the robots are largely a medium through which workers can communicate with customers. "I talk to our customers about many subjects, including the weather, my hometown and my health condition," said Imai, who has a somatic symptom disorder that makes leaving home difficult. "As long as I'm alive, I want to give something back to the community by working. I feel happy if I can be a part of society." Image Credit: AFP
    7 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Other operators have a range of different abilities, including some Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients who use eye movements on a special digital panel to send signals to the robots. The project is the brainchild of Kentaro Yoshifuji, an entrepreneur who co-founded the company Ory Laboratory that makes the robots. Image Credit: AFP
    8 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    After suffering a bout of bad health as a child that left him unable to go school, he began thinking about ways to bring people into the workforce even if they can't leave home. "I'm thinking about how people can have job options when they want to work," said the 33-year-old. "This is a place where people can participate in society." Image Credit: AFP
    9 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    He established the cafe with support from major companies and crowd-funding, and says the experiment is about more than robots. "Customers here are not exactly coming to this location just to meet OriHime," he told AFP at the cafe. "There are people operating OriHime behind the scenes, and customers will come back to see them again." Image Credit: AFP
    10 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    The cafe's launch comes with the Paralympics due to open on August 24 and disability advocates debating Japan's progress on inclusion and accessibility. Since Tokyo won the bid to host the Games in 2013 it has touted efforts to make public facilities more accessible. Image Credit: AFP
    11 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    But support for inclusion remains limited, said Seiji Watanabe, head of a non-profit organisation in central Japan's Aichi that supports employment for people with disabilities. Image Credit: AFP
    12 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    A humanoid robot delivers drinks to customers. In March, the government revised regulations to edge up the minimum ratio of disabled workers at a company from 2.2 percent to 2.3 percent. "The level is too low," Watanabe told AFP. "And Japanese companies don't have a culture of hiring diverse human resources on their own initiative." Image Credit: AFP
    13 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    At Dawn, Mamoru Fukaya said he and his 17-year-old son were enjoying the cafe on a lunchtime visit. "(The pilot) was very friendly," the 59-year-old said. "Since he said he can't work outside his home, it's great that there's this kind of chance." Image Credit: AFP
    14 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Yoshifuji is focused on the cafe project now, but thinks robots could one day even make the Paralympics more inclusive. "There's a possibility that a kind of new Paralympics for those who are bedridden can be created," he said. "We could even create new sports. That might be interesting." Image Credit: AFP
    15 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    An employee, left, takes pictures of a humanoid robot with a customer. Image Credit: AFP
    16 of 16
    Dawn Cafe robots gallery
    Kentaro Yoshifuji, an entrepreneur who co-founded the robotics company Ory Laboratory. Image Credit: AFP

    Trending

    • 6 times Samantha Ruth Prabhu was trolled

      6 times Samantha Ruth Prabhu was trolled


    • Photos: South Korean rain turns roads into rivers

      Photos: South Korean rain turns roads into rivers

    Latest In

    • Real defeat Eintracht to win fifth UEFA Super Cup

      1 hour ago

    • Wall Street up as inflation cools, rate hike fear eases

      1 hour ago

    • Disney surges past Netflix in streaming subscribers


    • Meet first Emirati boss of biosaline agriculture centre


    • Drugmakers hunt for one vaccine for all COVID variants


    Go back to top
    Network links:
    • Friday
    • Watch Time
    • getthat
    • Jobs
    • Commercial Printing
    • About Gulf News
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Gulf News store
    • Advertise with us
    • Reach by GN
    • GN Focus
    • Gulf News epaper
    • Sitemap
    • Have your say
    Find us on Social
    © Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2022. All rights reserved.
    This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to improve your experience and provide more personalized service to you. Both on your website and other media. To find out more about the cookies and data we use, please check out our Privacy Policy.
    Share on Facebook
    Share on Twitter
    Share on Whatsapp
    Share on Mail
    Share on LinkedIn
    Close
    Gulf News

    Get Breaking News Alerts From Gulf News

    We’ll send you latest news updates through the day. You can manage them any time by clicking on the notification icon.

    Subscribe No Thanks
    Continue reading Gulf News
    Dear Reader, please register to read gulfnews.com

    Dear Reader,

    This section is about Living in UAE and essential information you cannot live without.

    Register to read and get full access to gulfnews.com

    Create your account
    or login if you already have one
    First name is required.
    Last name is required.
    Please enter a valid email address.
    Password should have minimum 7 characters with at least one letter and number
    Passwords do not match

    By clicking below to sign up, you're agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

    Login your account
    New to Gulf News? Sign up now
    Please enter your email address.
    Please enter your password.

    Forgot password

    or