I’m on my way home from Tokyo today.
The biggest surprise of this year’s trip were the robots.
First was Pepper made by Softbank. In Japan, Pepper is just another walking talking robot, like many others. What I saw was a classroom full of artists designing programs for Pepper.
Years ago before Segway became a marketing failure, I suggested that the way to make the product a success was to give a dozen to a college soccer or lacrosse team and let them figure out a game.
The same is true for robots. But in this case, let artists find new and imaginative uses for them. The Japanese have done just that. They are the most brilliant marketers on the planet.
The second was Robohon. You can look it up to see him in action on Youtube. He is about 10 inches high and will be sold as a smartphone. But he shows the range of functions a robot can achieve. He dances, does acrobatics, takes photos, is a phone, and can project the pictures he takes on the wall. In due time he will do many other tiny amazing things.
I count on the Japanese to find interesting and productive uses for robots as they always have. We seem to depend on ARPA for innovation which is mostly concerned with war fighting. The Japanese dominate the industrial robot world and have for the past 50 years. They will be our future