In the business district of Tokyo’s Nihonbashi, groups of tourists are on guided tours of the area. But rather than being accompanied by a person, they’re being shown around by a shoulder-mounted robot.
If all goes well, these bilingual human-controlled robots, conversant in English and Japanese, could become a common sight in the capital.
Created by robotics company OryLab, OriHime is a white robot with green eyes, weighing 4 kilograms. Equipped with a camera, speaker and microphone, the robot twitches its wing-like arms, which it can fold together as if in prayer when visiting a temple. The robot is on a stand attached to a backpack that positions it to rest on the wearer’s shoulder, allowing the two to better talk to each other.
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