- Title: JAPAN: World's first personal robot exhibition 'Robodex 2000' held in Yokohama
- Date: 23rd November 2000
- Summary: VARIOUS: SONY'S HUMANOID PET ROBOT "SDR" (SONY DREAM ROBOT) STAGE PERFORMANCE WITH VIOLINIST (7 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 8th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Quirky,Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA6J9RA687AIIDT1HEVYI523BBJ
- Story Text: In the city of Yokohama, fiction has met reality at the world's first personal robot exhibition.
Over 20 Japanese and international corporations, laboratories and universities on Thursday (November 23) strutted their latest androids in a parade down the centre stage of the futuristic Robodex.
From Honda's "P3" to Sony's latest Aibo, the robots highlighted Japan's advance in a nascent industry.
"It is often mentioned that the 1980's is the decade of PC and the 90's the decade of (the) internet. And I strongly predict that the decade starting this year, the year 2000, is the year of the robot, the personal robot," said chairman of Robodex and Sony executive vice-president Toshitada Doi.
Japan has a long history of infatuation with robots. In the late 1940s, a cartoon character of a friendly robot, Tetsuwan Atom, took Japan by storm. Its television series spread overseas in later years and was renamed Astroboy, helping change the image of robots from simple slave-machines to personal friends.
This concept has remained very much alive in the robot industry where robots with a personal and 'fun' touch dominate.
A lot of what is already on the market is still machines that slither, crawl, swim or bark or simple companions.
One international company even sells kits where you can make your own pet robot -- in Lego.
These toys, made for kids eight and upwards, have a universal appeal.
"I think that the acceptance of robots among children is really universal," said Lego's Learning Systems president Masao Ishihara.
Sony's latest humanoid robot, released earlier this week, is also supposed to be a toy - albeit an expensive one at an estimated 10,000-20,000 U.S. dollars a unit.
But it can walk, dance and cheer along a pre-set programme.
Sony's Doi believes these kind of entertainment robots will remain in the mainstream because of one simple reason: "Unfortunately at this moment, the level of technology is not ready for serious robots, in that sense the entertainment robot is much better," he said.
However in the next decade he expects each household to have at least two to three 'home' robots, that wash, cook and perhaps even babysit.
Back in the present, the only practical application for robots is mainly heavy duty rescue or repair.
TSMUK's "T-5", unveiled at the expo for the first time, is the largest android ever. It stands nearly three metres (9 feet) tall and has an arm's span of over four metres (12 feet). The company says it hopes to use this remote controlled behemoth to rescue people in disaster zones where most except our friendly robots fear to tread. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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