Cafe opens with robot waiters remotely controlled by disabled people

Gee, what could go wrong? which one is the gas or the brake

this might be a good idea if the patrons like wearing their food

1000 yen an hour! Is that legal?

1000 yen an hour is standard minimum wage in Japan

is it any coincidence that the robots are following the tracks in the floor?

I'll bet Y10,000 this turns out to be garbage and will probably end up using humans to control most of what they do. Actually.... Japan's Ministry of Labor has shown that it doctored the number of handicapped individuals on their payrolls... overseeing these robots would be a good job for a handicapped individual.

I posted that over a month ago regarding an idea for security robots..... looks like they were thinking the same thing well before that.

So, the disabled people stay at home watching other people out and about having fun. Seems more like punishment.

Stunning news! This is jaw dropping AI and Robotics technology. Getting the Disabled in the workforce will solve many labor shortage issues. Added to robots now being hired as staff in hotels, in future working on farms, conbinis with high-tech self serve, there is no need for “mass immigration” as some claim.

I cant wait to try one of these cafes! Robot cafes will shock so many visitors in Tokyo olympics 2020. Possible export opportunity for Japan too.

Wow! Talk about "working from home"! What could go wrong? It'll only be a matter of time until someone hacks into the server for these "server" robots and make things messy.

And I suddenly recall one of the most memorable comedic scenes put to film between Gene Hackman and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein when they try to enjoy a bowl of soup.

I cant wait to try one of these cafes!

Coming to the small Outback town you live in around 2085.

Good luck to the disabled folks, but this is nothing more than PR with plastic toys. They're not robots, they're radio controlled toys.

Not sure what everyone is complaining about. The disabled people are able to work and earn money which I think must be really hard for a disabled person to find in Japan. And people interested in being served by robots get their fun. Now, where are the disabled people located? Inside the cafe or at home? Will people get in touch with the disabled persons? Because then it would be nice for the disabled persons as well.

Either way, personally I dont want robot waiters, I prefer a human one.

Coming to the small Outback town you live in around 2085.

There won't be anyone in Japan by then!

Good luck to the disabled folks, but this is nothing more than PR with plastic toys. They're not robots, they're radio controlled toys.

My thoughts exactly.

These are pretty cool.  Interesting technology, at any rate.  Of course in this era, cybersecurity is paramount to preventing these going wrong (not that the current cybersecurity minister knows much about that!).

I'd like to perhaps see the faces of these avatar bots replaced with a camera display or something, to better allow the pilot to personally interact with their customers.

I quite like this idea although, the ¥1,000 per hour seems pretty shoddy.

1000 yen an hour is standard minimum wage in Japan

Best you don't ask the standard minimum in Okinawa then, and no it's not that "high"

Rather than throw out patronizing sops like this, how about Japanese businesses and inventors work on ways to make it possible for the disabled to more easily get around and take part in society LIKE. EVERYBODY. ELSE. If these people are truly housebound, yes, this could be a step forward - but are they housebound because of the degree of their disability or because it's so hard to get around here in Japan and they face discouragement at the idea of working fulltime in companies and doing other things? This is the same society where a man in a wheelchair was recently told to stop drinking wine in a restaurant because of "safety issues." Maybe the woman shown on NHK last night doing this and saying it was "fun" might in fact want to be out and about doing more meaningful work, or just socializing with friends like anybody else? Somehow, this news makes me very sad

Why are people complaining about 1000 yen?

Tokyo recently increased its minimum wage to 985 yen (the highest in Japan).

At least disable people have a job.

The company is really great to hire them not many companies would.

Robot cafes will shock so many visitors in Tokyo olympics 2020.

I tend to think many visitors will be shocked in 2020, too!

I am all for this early attempt at avatar robotics. But this is far from practical at this point. This article is clearly just PR for Japan. These 'robots' are very much NOT... AI!

That said, I think there are some design elements that could be improved off the bat. The days where people like Ganbare above can rely on robots to save Japan (as opposed to developing social skills) are still a loooooooong ways off yet.

PR ... yeah, that too. But kudos to this company for at least trying to empower those marginalized by physical handicaps.

I can only wish all minorities would be empowered through STEM, rather than the model pushed by DARPA and the U.S. military industrial complex.

I'll take scones over drones any day of the week.

I think this may have more to do with the new law that says any company with over 100 employees must hire at least 1 disabled person, not sure if it is a local thing or national, but even preschools must hire them, not such a great idea when it comes to preschools and care facilities.

Height is a very good choice for decimetres. 12 decimetres is less awkward than a point right in the middle of a word. Why don't we use that?

Wonder how ya guys would react when served by real handicapped waiters?

Would ya guys be as patient with their inadequacies?

Some may not be able to communicate as clearly or move as fast, etc.

What if the disabled wanted to go on vacation through the robot? Security at airports is killer...

Heard that the US has robotic surgeries...no humans involved, except in programming. Other than employment for the disabled, why are they piloted and not autonomous? If robots can do heart surgery autonomously, why can they not serve food?

Heard that the US has robotic surgeries...no humans involved, except in programming

Huh? There's always humans involved, even in robotic surgeries - there are always human doctors, even if remotely at a distant connection (not to mention nurses and technicians who have to be there in the premises)

lostrune2Nov. 27 11:36 pm JST

Wonder how ya guys would react when served by real handicapped waiters?

I would be quite fine with that. A little tolerance goes a long way toward making the world a better place for ALL.

lostrune2Nov. 27 11:36 pm JST

Wonder how ya guys would react when served by real handicapped waiters?

I would be quite fine with that. A little tolerance goes a long way toward making the world a better place for ALL.

That's fine, as long as ya guys know what you're asking for

1000 yen an hour is standard minimum wage in Japan

Japan does not have a national minimum wage. It varies by prefecture. Tokyo counts as a prefecture.

It's not obvious to me why something that is remote controlled by a human is a robot just because the device looks vaguely humanoid. If that is all it takes to make something a "robot," I could strap a doll on one of my kids' remote controlled toy cars and call it a robot.