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Japanese Robot Guards to Patrol Shops And Offices

Posted by Zonk on from the we'll-be-ready-for-the-zentradi dept.

Clarinase writes "Robots will be patrolling Japan's streets, offices, shopping malls and other public places for the safety of the people. Guardrobo D1 is equipped with a camera and sensors to detect any signs of trouble. It will then alert the human guards via radio with camera footage of possible troubles. This is one of the technological advancement vital to the aging population of Japan, where 1 in 5 Japanese are over 65 years old."

4 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Old people in Japan by David+Rolfe · · Score: 3, Informative

    First, yes they are longer lived than Americans. Second, the birth rate has been much lower than in the U.S. Additionally, immigratin is slower to Japan so there are fewer foreigners upsetting the averages.

    --
    Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
  2. Kinda funny, actually by rfunches · · Score: 2, Informative

    I watched this robot on a Japanese morning news show about a week ago, and I have to admit, it's laughable at best and funny as hell in reality. They put it in a demo mode to show what it does when it detects a theft. It kept following one of the hosts, saying "Thief!" in Japanese at random intervals. Being only two or three feet high doesn't help its case.

  3. Re:Time for Robot Insurance - here's the video by gnu-sucks · · Score: 3, Informative
    Here's the video for that one:

    http://www.robotcombat.com/oldglory1.html

  4. Re:Is 1 in 5 really that unusual? by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Informative

    The skew in age distribution is becoming a significant problem in Japan, as many young people are avoiding having children in order to further their career or to just have fun. The abortion rate is also pretty high there. The problem is far worse than the baby boom in the U.S., and it's forecasted to get worse - if the birth rate of 1.3 children per woman continues, the population of Japan will be cut in half by the end of this century.

    The problem in Japan, however, isn't anywhere near as bad as it is in parts of Africa where AIDS has decimated the adult population. In those areas, there are tons of children and lots of old people, but not nearly enough working-age adults to sustain the economy and care for the kids and elderly.

    There was an interesting Nova episode called "World in the Balance" which aired several months ago in the US. You might not be able to catch another rerun for a while (check your listings, blah blah), but at least there's a transcript available here.