The Decade of the Robot Nears

Last year’s global box office success of the movie "Transformers,” also might chart the rising interest in humanoid robots worldwide. 

Humanoid robots are being developed in labs on every continent, yet the Japanese still maintain their lead in cutting-edge robot technology. Here in the U.S, their latest creations are often featured in news segments and spoofed on comedy shows. 

It's usually in the tone of "gee-whiz look at what those wacky Japanese are up to now." 

In addition to doing a survey of state-of-the-art Japanese humanoid robotics, I'm interested in taking a deeper look into the Japanese culture to understand why they are beyond any others in promoting this development. 

Government, academic and scientific institutions, along with industry leaders are investing time and money in developing the technology to create a humanoid robot workforce. There is more than the simple motivation of an aging population and the lack of younger workers fueling this extraordinary development. “J, Robot” will explore Japan’s unique cultural attitudes, artistic sensibilities and technological differences that might make their robotic leap possible.

Michael Garrigues  2008    www.foglifter.com

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