Mood: Disbelief

I found something on the Internet that’s really interesting. I think Mom and Dad will be very interested in this.

(A Japanese woman smiles next to Hello Kitty Robo, developed by Japanese robot maker Business Design Laboratory, at the 2005 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo November 30, 2005. Photo: Reuters)

Need temporary help on your company’s reception desk? One Japanese employment agency is suggesting you try recruiting a robot.

For just under 50,000 yen (240 pounds) a month, a fraction of the cost of a human temp, the PeopleStaff agency will despatch Hello Kitty Robo, a robotic receptionist capable of sensing a visitor’s presence, greeting him or her and holding simple conversations.

The Nagoya-based agency is also offering the services of Ifbot, an elderly-care robot that chats and poses riddles and arithmetical problems to train the brain and help avoid dementia. Spaceman-like Ifbot, which also quizzes people about their health, is aimed at hospitals and old peoples’ homes.

A spokeswoman for PeopleStaff said it would cost more than 300,000 yen a month to employ a person for this type of work, but warned that the robots were not capable of doing everything human employees can do.

(Source: Reuters)

Originally found on this site.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 8:26 am and is filed under Hello Kitty, Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.