Robots in Japan have entered the next stage! From science fiction to THEY'RE HERE right now standing next to you!
Soon, everyday life will have some kind of robot in it. Let's take a look at what's here right now and what's coming in 2015 and beyond.

In this episode, John Daub and Joseph Tame explore the world of Robots at the Japan Robot Week 2014 Expo at Tokyo Big Sight.
John also goes to Softbank's PEPPER TECH FEST to see the latest humanoid robot built with consumer generated software.

Highlights in this episode:
[Japan Robot Week]
★ Robotic Exoskeletons called "Muscle Suits"
★ The Japanese government's disaster relief robots
★ Robotic animals used for hospital patients
★ Robot taking orders at a cafe, making coffee and serving it
★ Robots that keep you company when you're lonely
[Pepper Tech Fest]
★ Softbank's PEPPER robot and its consumer software IN THE WILD
★ Albederan's NAO robot doing techno dancing

We already interact with robots in one way or another in our daily lives, but ONLY in JAPAN are robots so accepted in everyday culture. Japan is the perfect place to be the epicenter of the robot culture boom!

Will robots take over the world? (Who knows?!)
But they are here now and they are only going to become more important in our lives. We explore the reasons why:

Japan has a declining birth rate and growing elderly population.
Japan also has a lot of natural disaster: typhoons, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, tsunami ...

Robots are the key to keeping businesses running when labor shortages exist and assisting when disaster strikes as well as keeping us safe before and after.
They are also important for the elderly who will need more support. Japan has stepped up its efforts.
Hope you enjoy the report!

Links / URL:

Softbank PEPPER:
http://www.softbank.jp/robot/special/pepper/ (Japanese Only)
Aldebaran NAO:
www.aldebaran.com/en/humanoid-robot/nao-robot
Japan Robot Week Expo:
http://www.nikkan.co.jp/eve/s-robot/
NEDO [Japan Disaster Robots]:
http://www.nedo.go.jp/english/index.html
Innophys & Tokyo University of Science [muscle suit]:
https://innophys.jp/ (Japanese Only)
Takara Tomy [Robi Jr]
http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/omnibot/robi/
Paro the Therapeutic Robot Seal / Daiwa house:
http://www.daiwahouse.co.jp/robot/paro/ (Japanese only)
Kawada Group / Robotics [Nextage Cafe Robot]
http://global.kawada.jp/mechatronics/index.html
DOUBLE Research and Development Co.,LTD [Page Turner] http://www.j-d.co.jp/
Meet Joseph Tame: http://tamegoeswild.com/

This show has been created and produced by John Daub ジョン・ドーブ. He's been living and working in Japan for over 16 years and regularly reports on a TV show for Japan's International Channel.