Seven-feet-tall robots work in convenience stores in Tokyo
Recommended for Middle Grades
Seven-feet-tall robots work in convenience stores in Tokyo
Japan has the oldest population in the world. Almost one-third of the population is above the age of 65. As young people are less in number, they need to find ways to adjust to the lack of workers. So, Japan is turning to technology for help.
Two of the biggest convenience store chains in Japan are making robots work in convenience stores. The companies are FamilyMart and Lawson.
Recently, Lawson started using its first robot at a convenience store in Tokyo, Japan. FamilyMart also plans to have them working in their stores by 2022.
The robot is called Model-T and was created by a Japanese technology company called Telexistence.
What are the features of the Model-T robot?
It is seven feet tall and moves around on a wheeled platform. It has two hands with three “fingers” each. This is used to pick up items like bottles, cans and rice bowls and put them on the shelves.
The robot is controlled by a person who has to wear a virtual reality (VR) headset and special gloves. It also has cameras, microphones and sensors to help it communicate. As long as the connection is good, the robot can be controlled from almost anywhere in the world.
However, for now, the Model-T robot works slower than a human and can handle only packaged items. The company hopes to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help the robot to copy human movements in the future.
Watch a video of the robots work in convenience stores in Tokyo. Video credit: Telexistence Inc/Youtube
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