People strolling around Tokyo recently may have glimpsed the unusual sight of a tourist wearing a robot on their shoulder.
The robot, built by local robotics firm OryLab and called OriHime, offers guided walking tours to visitors to Japan’s capital city by talking into their ear and showing them around, The Japan Times reported.
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Now, before you think, “There’s no way I’m walking around on vacation with a robot stuck on my shoulder,” consider for a moment that the unique setup is enabling people with disabilities to act as tour guides from home.
Able to speak both Japanese and English, OriHime includes a microphone, a speaker, and a camera that streams video back to the remote guide so they can comment on the tourists immediate surroundings.
The diminutive robot is attached to a backpack containing a stand that allows it to rest on your shoulder.
OryLab spokesperson Keiko Hamaguchi told The Japan Times that the OriHime robot gives house-bound individuals a chance to engage with people they wouldn’t have ordinarily been able to meet.
At the current time, an OriHime-led tour lasts around 90 minutes and costs 8,800 Japanese yen (about $60) for one person, or 3,300 yen (about $22) each for two. The company operated more than 60 tours during testing that took place prior to the official launch a couple of weeks ago.
OriHime first appeared as a prototype in 2009, with various updates and refinements improving the design over the years. There’s also a larger OriHime-D version, which enables a remote operator to perform various tasks such as communicating with customers and carrying objects. The larger one bears some resemblance to Pepper, a robot unveiled by SoftBank in 2014 but which has since been discontinued.
The idea to launch OryLab came about after its founder, Kentaro Yoshifuji, suffered health issues that for several years prevented him from going to school. The unfortunate experience inspired him to seek a career in robotics and to use the technology to help people with disabilities and reduce loneliness in society.
