Toyota Wants to Put a Robot Friend in Every Home

Toyota envisions robots becoming commonplace in homes as companions to senior citizens, as part of its new artificial intelligence (AI) research center headed by renowned inventor Gill Pratt.

The automaker believes the pressing need for elder care will make household robots more attractive, and its Human Support Robot (HSR) could be one of the first products to gain mainstream acceptance.

The HSR is essentially a retractable arm on wheels, with a video screen on top and camera eyes to give it the semblance of a face.

Among the HSR's demonstrated capabilities is learning where books and other items should go on a shelf, and cleaning untidy rooms using sensor-eyes and a pincer.

Toyota's Masanori Sugiyama said the HSR could be ready for deployment in hospitals and rest homes to perform simple tasks within three years.

From Bloomberg
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