By Thomas Smith
Source: Japan Times

We all knew a day would come when we had robot helpers rolling through our homes, tending to our every need and cooking and cleaning for us. Some have waited in eager anticipation for that day, allowing their household chores to fall to the wayside, choosing to watch reruns of Night Court instead, thereby purposely creating plenty of work for their future robo-maids. Meanwhile, others have waited in fear, dreading a day when the neutral blue LED eyes of our robo-servants transform into the menacing red glow of our robo-overlords and conquer mankind. Talk about overreacting.

To the best of my knowledge a robo-uprising is a long time off while robo-housekeepers are not. Toyota and Tokyo University’s Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative have designed a robot to assist with Japan’s predicted labor shortage which stems from the nation’s low birthrate and aging society.

The robot has two arms, laser sensors, five recognition cameras and moves around on wheels. In a demonstration held for the media, “the robot cleaned up rooms, smoothly put away dishes from a dining table and picked up shirts and put them in a washing machine”. The robot has the capacity to recognize objects such as furniture and cleaning equipment as well as analyze its shortcomings and correct its mistakes.

If you’re planning on adding this robot to your household any time soon, you’ll have to wait a few years. Its developers are still making improvements to the machine but plan to begin marketing it in about seven years. So mark your calendar and continue alienating friends, family and neighbors with your sloppy living conditions or, for the rest of you, that’s seven more years to plan the resistance against the robotic uprising (meetings begin next Tuesday in my basement).