Search - robotics

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 9, 2013

Robots' abilities still far from human, but getting ever closer

It may seem uncomfortably close to science fiction, but robots are moving ever nearer to acquiring humanlike abilities to see, smell and sense their surroundings, allowing them to operate more independently and perform some of the dangerous, dirty and dull jobs people don't want to do.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 6, 2013

Frederik Schodt: pop culture ambassador to the world

Quick quiz: Who was the first Japanese civilian to be issued a passport?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 6, 2009

Techies flock to new robot center

Some robot-loving people have been tinkering with screwdrivers and motors instead of heading to the beach or hot springs this Golden Week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2008

Robot startups join forces against South Korea competition

Four of Japan's leading robot startups have joined forces, brought together by a common concern that neighboring South Korea could pull ahead in the race to transform robots from science fiction fantasy to commercial success.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 5, 2007

Matsui's graceful robots evoke human emotion

It's a truism that the Japanese are experts at dressing up unpleasantness in cute garb. The ubiquitous cartoon workmen characters bowing in apology at construction zones are meant to make months of jackhammering slightly more bearable. Ditto for robots and the future.
EDITORIALS
Nov 14, 2004

Robots and us

Personal robots have been a long time coming. After R2-D2 and C-3PO whirred and clicked their way into the limelight in the first "Star Wars" movie 27 years ago, the mass entertainment world blossomed with their mechanical descendants. "Droids" and "bots," some humanoid, some not, became as familiar...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Kansai robots on march amid Astro Boy hoopla

OSAKA -- The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, is witnessing a surge in visitors ahead of the April 7 "birthday" of Astro Boy, the humanoid robot for which the late cartoonist is probably best known.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 13, 2022

Japan’s emotionally enhanced robots — and the people who love them

The future is now for these individuals and families that treat robots as emotionally as they might treat a pet — or even a child.
Japan Times
Israel report 2022
Sep 27, 2022

Yaskawa Europe Technology: Conduits of trust, trade and technology transfer

Synergy doesn’t always happen seamlessly in a business relationship. But when it is achieved, the results can be tremendous — something that Yaskawa Europe Technology will surely attest to.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 27, 2022

Japan is losing people, but is it all bad?

Staff writer Alex Martin joins to discuss Japan's declining population, and why one town in Saitama thinks it's not all bad news.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 15, 2022

Japanese fashion magnate buys 'affectionate' robot venture

Yusaku Maezawa says he was drawn by Groove X's ability to 'make people feel happy' with its companion device.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 28, 2021

How Japan should approach military tech competition

It is vital for the nation to grasp the trends in national security and game-changing military technologies that are at the core of economic security.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2021

The Prius-hacking Silicon Valley star shaping Toyota’s future

The jeans-loving, patent-wielding executive co-founded Google's robotics division and helped develop the tech company's self-driving car project.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2021

Honda sees its future in air taxis, rockets and moon robots

With its '2030 Vision,” the automaker is betting big on how people will work, travel and spend leisure time in the future.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2021

Will the Fourth Industrial Revolution serve sustainability?

Building a more sustainable future therefore requires us to rethink some deeply held assumptions about the role of technology — and artificial intelligence in particular.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Bosai Special
Mar 11, 2021

Northeast marks 10 years since devastation from 3/11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis

Ten years have passed since the Tohoku region was rocked by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Reconstruction has steadily been in progress in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the three prefectures that were most affected by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. People have been rebuilding...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2021

Winners and losers in the digital transformation of work

Perhaps no single aspect of the digital revolution has received more attention than the effect of automaton on jobs, work, employment and incomes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2020

Drone business attracts attention as growth industry

Drones have been used in pesticide spraying in agriculture since the 1980s. Drones have become smaller, lighter and more high-performance machines. In addition to agriculture, they have been used in various fields, including the construction, medical and entertainment industries.
A sign at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6. AI and quantum information science have recently become a major issue in international politics.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 26, 2023

How emerging technologies can bring power to states

While the technologies are expected to largely change how militaries, economies and societies are operated, many of their social impacts remain unclear.
Alex Clavel, co-CEO at SoftBank Investment Advisers, won SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son's trust as a steady hand managing and fixing SoftBank's complex or troubled transactions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 12, 2024

Behind SoftBank’s investing cleanup, a U.S. dealmaker who survived the turmoil

Unassuming problem solver Alex Clavel is Masayoshi Son's top lieutenant leading the investment group's attempt at a turnaround.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2024

Musk's warning about Tesla stake raises governance questions

CEOs and directors are prohibited from taking any business opportunity for themselves that belongs to the firm.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.

Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
A husband and wife living in domestic bliss — in space — are not quite as perfect as they seem in “Previously Saved Version.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2024

‘Previously Saved Version’: An intriguing premise gets lost in space

Kei Ishikawa’s psychodrama about an affluent couple that has left a supposedly uninhabitable Earth is attractive to look at but never more than mildly engaging.
Toyota Research Institute and Boston Dynamics are set to conduct research on use cases for AI-trained robots in areas such as human-robot interaction.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024

Toyota joins with Hyundai's Boston Dynamics on AI-powered robots

Toyota has said it has made a breakthrough with artificial intelligence in teaching robots to learn.
An electric stock board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, operated by Japan Exchange Group, in Tokyo on April 19
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 21, 2024

Asian IPOs set for blockbuster week as ‘animal spirits’ return

Asian markets are seeing a return of "animal spirits," or changes in market behavior often driven by emotions.
Robots sit on display at the Richtech Robotics booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 9.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 13, 2025

Robots set to move beyond factory as AI advances

Recent breakthroughs in generative AI have given more credibility to predictions of billions of humanoid robots in everyday life.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at Donald Trump's resort in Florida in December last year
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Masayoshi Son pitches $1 trillion U.S. AI hub to TSMC and Trump team

Son envisions a version of the vast manufacturing hub of China’s Shenzhen that would bring back high-tech manufacturing to the U.S.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and his OpenAI counterpart, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in early February. The SoftBank founder is now proposing his most ambitious venture yet — a $1 trillion AI and robotics hub in Arizona.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2025

The magical thinking of Masa Son

The race to lead the world in AI-enabled robots is still in the early stages, but many signs point to China coming out on top.

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