Japan's Answer for an Aging Society: Robots
From: International Herald Tribune - 10/30/2007
By: Toru Fujioka

The Japanese government is promoting robotic technology as a way to boost
productivity by 50 percent over the next five years as well as complement an
aging and dwindling workforce. "Japan faces a stark choice: raise
productivity or see living standards fall," says Morgan Stanley's Robert
Feldman. "Robots could be a part of the solution." Japan established a robot
competition in 2006 that attracted 152 entries. The first winner of the Robot
of the Year award is a yellow, cylinder-like robot known as the RFS-1,
developed by Fuji Heavy Industries, that can vacuum floors in office and
apartment buildings autonomously, including using elevators by itself. Such
robots could provide a productivity boost to Japanese service workers, who
produce 30 percent less per hour than service workers in the US. Deploying an
RFS-1, which is expected to last 10 years, in an office or apartment building
will cost about 5 million yen less than paying a human to do the same job.
"These robots are great," says Yuhachi Izawa, a manager at Sumisho Building
Management, the first to deploy an RSF-1 in a Tokyo office building. "They
save electricity, air conditioning, and the cost of employing workers - and
we can make them work during the night."  

Read the entire article at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/29/bloomberg/sxrobot.php

Link:
Humans and robots will soon coexist in Japan
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060131/kyodo/d8ffc4eo0.html