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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Apr 15, 2018

Doubts cloud Minamisoma robotics project as Fukushima attempts to revive tsunami-hit city

A coastal area in Fukushima Prefecture's Minamisoma, which seven years ago was overtaken by tsunami debris, is set to be resurrected as a major robotics research site.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2016

Japan experiencing budding startup wave as fundraising environment improves

A wave of startups is emerging in famously risk-averse Japan as cash-rich corporations increasingly delegate the task of keeping pace with technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to smaller, nimbler businesses.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 20, 2016

Researcher says Toyota production capabilities optimal for producing helper robots

The researcher hired by Toyota Motor Corp. to spearhead its robotics and artificial intelligence efforts says the automaker's production principles can be applied to build affordable helper robots for rapidly aging societies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2022

Robots are key to winning the productivity war

While machines do replace specific jobs, their adoption boosts salaries and raises living standards.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2022

Japanese firm donates smart masks to Ukrainian evacuees

Capable of translating into 100 different languages, the masks were provided to Ukrainians for better communication with locals in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 24, 2022

China’s ‘little giants’ are its latest weapon in tech war with U.S.

An ambitious government program aims to foster a new generation of startups that can compete with Silicon Valley by targeting sectors such as robotics, quantum computing and semiconductors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 18, 2018

Fukushima professor develops rubber that can make and store power from light and vibration

Kunio Shimada, a professor of fluid mechanics and energy engineering at Fukushima University, has developed a special rubber that can generate electricity from solar and kinetic energy and save the power generated.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 16, 2015

3D Robotics plans to launch $1,000 smart drone

3D Robotics Inc., North America's largest drone manufacturer, is introducing a $1,000 drone for consumers that simplifies flying and using the products.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 24, 2021

Are you ready for sentient Disney robots?

The Magic Kingdom knows the nostalgia of herky-jerky animatronics won't cut it with today's children.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 8, 2020

Remote-controlled robots to join FamilyMart’s workforce this summer

Created by Tokyo-based robotics firm Telexistence, FamilyMart workers will be able to control the robots from afar to help stock shelves.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 11, 2018

Tokyo tops list of most innovate cities thanks to 3D technology, robotics

Tokyo has topped a list of the world's most innovative cities, leapfrogging London and New York after embracing the "globe-shaking trends of robotics and 3-D manufacturing."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 11, 2018

After 12-year wait, Sony relaunches robot dog Aibo to much fanfare

Sony Corp. relaunched the Aibo on Thursday, with fans expressing excitement at the second unleashing of the robot dog.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 19, 2016

SoftBank's Pepper robot becomes Android friendly

SoftBank Robotics Corp. said Thursday it has expanded opportunities for app developers to use Google's Android platform for its humanoid robot Pepper.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2015

Japan recognizes Cyberdyne's robotic suit as medical device, widespread use anticipated

Cyberdyne Inc. said Wednesday its powered exoskeleton has received government approval as a medical device. It said it is first robotics device ever to secure such status in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jul 13, 2014

Cyberdyne's HAL suits give lift to mobility-challenged

Robotics engineer Yoshiyuki Sankai, 56, has been driven by his passion for innovative technology for about half a century.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 21, 2014

Advances in robotics present singular worry

'Singularity' is an odd word. Originally it meant peculiarity. Then 20th-century physicists got hold of it and situated it at the very boundary of space-time, to the eternal bafflement of the lay mind.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2014

SoftBank subsidiary aims to become player in robotics operating systems

Asratec Corp. said Wednesday it has started offering an operating system for use in the manufacture of robots, and plans to sell a microcomputer board to help amateur enthusiasts build robots on their own.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 2, 2014

Google's drive into robotics should concern us all

Over the past year, Google has bought eight robotics companies. Its most recent acquisition is an outfit called Boston Dynamics, which makes the nearest thing to a mechanical mule that you are ever likely to see. It's called Big Dog and it walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. It's the size of...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 25, 2003

The rise of the machines

She's young, beautiful, and fluent in several languages.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2022

Saving the bees isn’t the same as saving the planet

Mother Nature spent millions of years creating the most efficient pollinator on the planet. We owe it to the bees to save them.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2019

Laundry-phobics' dreams crushed as Tokyo-based developer of Laundroid robot files for bankruptcy

When Seven Dreamers Laboratories Inc. unveiled its prototype laundry-folding robot in 2015, it generated a buzz, with people saying they couldn't wait to buy one if it ever went to market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 6, 2019

Robot rights: From Asimov to Tezuka

Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics' are fictional rules, so why do we keep looking to them for guidance? The closest thing to real-world robot law we could have more seems likely to develop around the question of when autonomous military drones can make 'kill' decisions without human intervention.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2018

Japan may be in hot pursuit of robotics, but on the farm it's still all about human hands

The country that brought robots to car factories looks set to stay resolutely old-school in agriculture as it seeks to attract more foreign workers to replenish an aging workforce.
While Japan’s media may influence global perceptions of robots as friendly and lovable, the near-future robots will likely not match the capabilities or roles depicted in TV show's like "Sunny."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2024

Japan isn't the 'robotopia' Apple TV's 'Sunny' portrays

One of the reasons we still see relatively few robots doing the menial jobs is that human labor is cheap.

Longform

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