NAGOYA (Kyodo) People Staff Co. said Wednesday it will start offering robots to work in nursing homes or as office receptionists in February.
The service is the first of its kind by a staffing agency, the Nagoya-based firm said.
Yorisoi ifbot, the nursing robot, quizzes seniors to help slow senility. Receptionist Hello Kitty Robo has a sensor that recognizes visitors and greets them with a recorded message as their images and voices are sent to computer terminals inside the company.
Hello Kitty Robo is useful for firms and hospitals, and can be a night receptionist in hotels, People Staff said.
The robots can be rented for between 45,000 yen and 53,000 yen a month, and can be purchased after several months.
They were developed by Business Design Laboratory Co., another Nagoya company, and were shown at Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture.
"Humans and robots will likely collaborate in various places in the future as the working population appears on the decline," a People Staff representative said.
