Japan has long been regarded as the world leader in forward-thinking technology and robotics. Some of the ideas to come out of the Land of the Rising Sun are so “fashion forward” that they seem almost backward to us over here. Don’t believe me? You wouldn’t see stackable, coin operated plastic “hotels” set up on the street in bee-hive like cubicles in the states, would you? How about pre-cooked, multi-course meals shrink-wrapped into little plastic cartons and served out of vending machines? No, Twinkies don’t count.
So when Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories teamed up to build four different types of personal shopping assistant robot and decided to test them at Universal Citywalk in Osaka, should we really be surprised? The various robots offered Citywalk shoppers’ assistance in choosing products to buy, gave directions to those wandering aimlessly, handed out coupons and other promotional material, and displayed information pertinent to what each robot guessed the individual shopper might need.
That’s right, these aren’t just mindless automata pre-programmed to perform actions. These little gizmos monitor and analyze the patterns, habits, and actions of shoppers to determine what the person needs by where they are, what they are looking at, and how they are acting. The robots are linked together by a wireless network and work in tandem to give shoppers the best possible retail experience.
Robovie-II may look a little like his “Short Circuit” cousin Johnny 5 but he sounds a little bit more like T-101 from “The Terminator.”
I'm a freelance copywriter with three year's experience and a specialization in web copy, marketing materials, and ghostwriting. I'm also a regular contributor to The Maine Edge (www.themaineedge.com.)