Originally published May 3 2004
Toyota intends to develop a full line of personal assistant robots
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Toyota has announced it intends to develop a full line of humanoid
robots to serve as personal assistants. It's an exciting announcement
from a company that has the financial and political will to actually
carry it out. Japan leads the world in robotics, and while the U.S.
focuses on military robots (terminator, anyone?), Japan is working to
actually improve our quality of life through helper robots. In a few
years, personal assistant robots will be able to fetch items (and
remember where you put them), guard your house, clean up the clutter in
your home, engage in basic conversations, play music, and -- someday --
do your laundry. These are the kinds of things that really matter in
terms of quality of life. Who wouldn't want a live-in helper who could
handle basic chores? Humanoid robots from Toyota offer precisely that
promise.
Yes, it's all many years away, but today we finally have
working robots like Roomba and Aibo. There are more than 150,000 Aibo
robots in homes around the world right now, and Sony is just getting
started. When you consider the combined efforts of Toyota, Sony and
Honda, it's exciting to realize that helpful household robots are truly
on the way.
I predict the humanoid robotics industry will someday
dwarf the automobile industry and the software industry. This will be
the largest single industry on the planet, with hundreds of billions of
dollars to be made by the right companies. Too bad the U.S. government
can't see this coming and try to support our own fledgling robotics
research. Today, the U.S. is at least a decade behind Japan, and I don't
see any changes coming. Kudos to Japan for investing in technology that
really means something.
Toyota, the world's second largest automotive manufacturer, has made a
clear statement of its intention to participate in the personal robotics
market by announcing an internal project to develop partner robots
designed to function as personal assistants for humans.
This year has seen a flurry of activity in the personal robotics area
and the heightened activity has encouraged a number of companies such as
Toyota, which has been known to be developing robots for some time, to
play its hand.
Toyota does not see itself solely as an automotive manufacturer, and
sees itself as a manufacturer of products which contribute to society.
At the same time, people around the globe are starting to crave
better, more diversified lifestyles.
These changes are particularly prominent in Japan where dwindling
birth rates and a rapidly aging population are underscoring concerns
regarding the need to secure a stable labour force for the future in
order for its people to be able to enjoy comfortable standards of
living.
Focusing on these issues, Toyota is promoting the development of
human-assisting partner robots using the collective experience
cultivated by the Toyota Group in automotive development and production
engineering.
Toyota wants its partner robots to have human characteristics, such as
being agile, warm and kind and also intelligent enough to skillfully
operate a variety of devices in the areas of personal assistance, care
for the elderly, manufacturing, and mobility.
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