Meeting the Future Japanese Workforce at IREX
Categorized: Industry News, Reports Back from Shows. Submitted by Ron on
Recently, I attended the International Robot Exhibition (IREX) in Tokyo. My friends, the days of iRobot are closer than you might want to know. It had been awhile since I’d been updated on the state of robotics technology ̶- and the industry has definitely been advancing at a rapid clip. I couldn't help but think about the population issue that Japan and other industrialized nations are facing. With a birth rate of 1.7 in Japan, the population is actually shrinking, creating a pressing need for robotics to fill both manufacturing and service jobs.
And they’re approaching the challenge with gusto. We saw robots for manufacturing, welding, sorting parts, assembling, and more. We also saw robots that clearly hint at the future of warfare (kids used to remote controls and video games controlling their bots from safe locations). We even saw a singing robot with facial expressions. Maybe a bit more spooky than entertaining….but interesting nonetheless.
In a blink, robotics will move out of the factory and into our daily lives, and we'll talk about it as casually as we do now about cell phones, Wi-Fi or tiny devices in your pocket holding a lifetime of music. Thankfully, I didn't see any CEO-bot prototypes at the show, so I'm hoping I have a few good years left.