In the not-so-distant future, more robots may be interacting with customers at shopping complexes, serving food at restaurants or cleaning floors at offices in Japan amid a serious labor crunch.
A hint of what is to come is visible at the International Robot Exhibition 2019, a major biennial robot trade show that kicked off on Wednesday at Tokyo Big Sight. The event runs until Saturday.
Featuring a record 637 firms and organizations, some participants said demand for robotics as helping hands in service sectors is rising to compensate for a shortage of workers.