By Mark Bookman On November 26, the Nippon Foundation, together with Ory Laboratory and ANA Holdings, opened a café where customers could be served coffee by robots remotely piloted by persons with disabilities from their homes. The café represented an experiment in micro-tasking and telecommuting, one of many in recent Read more…
By Mark Bookman On Thursday, October 11th, 2018 I had the opportunity to visit the 45th International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition (HCR) at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, Japan. The three-day exhibition is the largest of its kind in Asia and features products from a wide range of vendors, Read more…
For fans of giant robots and anime, you will be glad to know that the new Gundam statue at Odaiba is wheelchair accessible… mostly. The giant 1:1-scale replica is 19.7 meters tall and based on the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam from the Gundam Unicorn series. The robot includes pulsating pink lights Read more…
Towards the end of November Japan’s health ministry approved a brand-new wearable walk assist robot. This robot will be used in medical facilities and has been approved to spur growth for walk assist products across the Japanese health industry. The CyberDyne HAL system has been approved for medical use and Read more…
The Japanese government is launching a new program aimed at reducing the burden on caregivers and enabling elderly people to live more independently. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry intends to create around 10 national centers in 2016, which will aid the development of nursing care robots that can meet Read more…
Akihabara, or Akiba, has gained worldwide recognition as the heart of Japan’s high-tech and otaku (ie nerd/geek) culture. Almost everyone who comes to Japan wants to visit it to shop, find anime/manga, go to a maid cafe, or see AKB 48. However exciting it is, it is not terribly wheelchair Read more…