Japanese robotics

The recently created CB² (child robot with biomimetic body) can follow moving objects with its eyes.

The characteristics of the humanoid Japanese robots include abilities such as blinking, smiling or expressing emotions such as anger and surprise.

Researchers across Japan have unveiled increasingly sophisticated robots with different functions, including a talking office receptionist, a security guard and even a primary school teacher.

Fumio Miyazaki, an engineering science professor at the Toyonaka Campus of Osaka University, has stated that Japanese scientists could potentially provide thousands of humanoids that could be working alongside humans by the end of the 2020s.

Over a quarter of a million robots are employed in an effort to reduce the high labor costs and support further industrial mechanization.

[1] Robots are also seen as a solution to Japan's declining birth rate and shrinking workforce, which is an important issue in Japanese society.

During the Edo period (1603–1867), Takeda-za developed a mechanical-puppet theater that flourished in Osaka's Dōtonbori district.

[19] The Japanese craftsman Hisashige Tanaka, known as "Japan's Edison," created an array of extremely complex mechanical toys, some of which were capable of serving tea, firing arrows drawn from a quiver, or even painting a Japanese kanji character.

[21] A popular fictional robot was the cartoon character Astro Boy, or Tetsuwan Atomu in Japan.

In the mid-20th century, professor Ichiro Kato of Waseda University studied humanoid robots.

Its vision system allowed it to measure distances and directions to objects using external receptors, artificial eyes and ears.