They have feelings too

Japan is embracing a new generation of robots

Saya, a perky receptionist in a smart canary-yellow suit, beamed a smile from behind the "May I Help You?" sign on her desk, offering greetings and answering questions posed by visitors at a Tokyo university. But when she failed to welcome a workman who had just walked by, a professor stormed up to Saya and dished out a harsh reprimand. "You're so stupid!" said the professor, Hiroshi Kobayashi, towering over her desk.

"Eh?" she responded, her face wrinkling into a scowl. "I tell you, I am not stupid!" Truth is , Saya isn't even human.

But in a country where robots are changing the way people live, work, play and even love, that does not stop Saya the cyber-receptionist from defending herself. With voice recognition technology allowing 700 verbal responses and an almost infinite number of facial expressions from joy to despair, surprise to rage, Saya may not be biological — but she is nobody's fool. "I almost feel like she's a real person," said Kobayashi, an associate professor at the Tokyo University of Science and Saya's inventor.

"She has a temper ... and she sometimes makes mistakes, especially when she has low energy," the professor said.

Analysts say Japan is leading the world in rolling out a new generation of consumer robots. Some scientists are calling the wave a technological force poised to change human lifestyles more radically than the advent of the computer or the mobile phone.

The onslaught of new robots led the government last month to establish a committee to draw up safety guidelines for the keeping of robots in homes and offices. Officials compiled a report in January predicting every household in Japan will own at least one robot by 2015, perhaps sooner.

Scientists and government authorities have dubbed 2005 the unofficial "year of the robot", with humans set to interact with their electronic spawn as never before at the 2005 World Expo outside the city of Nagoya. At the 430-acre site, 15 million visitors are expected to mingle with some of the most highly developed examples of Japanese artificial intelligence.

Greeting visitors in four languages and guiding them to their destinations are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries's yellow midget robot, Wakamaru. A trio of humanoid robots by Sony, Toyota and Honda will be dancing and playing musical instruments. Parents visiting the World Expo can leave their children in the care of a robotic babysitter NEC's PaPeRo.

Also on display: a wheelchair robot now being deployed by the city of Kitakyushu that navigates traffic crossings and sidewalks. In June, Expo visitors can enter a robot room — a more distant vision of the future where by 2020 merely speaking a word from your sofa will open the refrigerator door, allowing your personal robot assistant to deliver the cold beverage of your choice.

"We have reached the point in Japan of a major breakthrough in the use of robot technology and our society is changing as a result," said Kazuya Abe, a top official at Nedo, the national institute in charge of coordinating science research and development. "This is all about AI — artificial intelligence," Abe said. "It's about the creation of something that is not human, but can be a complement or companion to humans in society. That future is happening here now."

In the quest for artificial intelligence, the United States is perhaps just as advanced as Japan. But analysts stress the focus in the United States has been largely on military applications. By contrast, the Japanese government, academic institutions and major corporations are investing billions of dollars on consumer robots aimed at altering everyday life, leading to an earlier dawn of what many here call the "age of the robot".

Societal needs

But the robotic rush in Japan is also being driven by societal needs. Confronting a major depopulation problem due to a low birthrate and its status as the nation with the longest lifespan on Earth, Japanese are fretting about who will staff the factory floors of the world's second-largest economy in the years ahead. Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, has come up with one answer in moving to create a line of worker robots with human-like hands able to perform multiple sophisticated tasks.

Alsok, the nation's second-largest security guard company, has developed a line of robo-cops. The guard robots can detect and thwart intruders using sensors and paint guns.

It is perhaps no surprise robots would find their first major foothold in Japan. Japanese dolls and toys are considered by some to be among the first robots.

"In Western countries, humanoid robots are still not very accepted, but they are in Japan," said Norihiro Hagita, director of the ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Keihanna Science City near Kyoto. "One reason is religion. In Japanese (Shinto) religion, we believe that all things have gods within them. But in Western countries, most people believe in only one God. For us, however, a robot can have an energy all its own."

A case in point is the Paro — a robotic baby harp seal, developed with $10 million (Dh36.7 million) in government grants, that went on sale this month for $3,500 (Dh12,845) each.

The seal is meant to provide therapy for the elderly. With 30 sensors, the seal begins over time to recognise its master's voice and hand gestures. It coos and flaps its furry white down in delight at gentle nuzzles, but squeals in anger when handled roughly.

Researchers have been testing the robot's effect on the elderly at a nursing home in Tsukuba, about 40 miles northeast of Tokyo. Tests have shown the cute newcomers indeed reduce stress and depression among the elderly. Just ask Sumi Kasuya, 89, who cradled a seal robot while singing it a lullaby on a recent afternoon.

"I have no grandchildren and my family does not come to see me very often," said Kasuya, clutching fast to the baby seal robot wiggling in her arms. "So I have her," she said, pointing to the seal. "She is so cute, and is always happy to see me."

– Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service