Robotics

Getting products from one place to another with as little human contact as possible is becoming an imperative for businesses as retailers, warehouses and transport providers adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to minimize the risk of infections to their employees and customers.

Sony's PlayStation has won hundreds of millions of fans across the world since its launch in 1994. But few know just how much of the console's success can be attributed to an unassuming factory located just across the bay from Tokyo. (Click here for a graphic-rich version of this article.)

Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart will introduce remote-controlled robots to stock shelves in its stores, Nikkei has learned.

Robots built by a Tokyo-based company designed to kill the flu virus using deep ultraviolet rays eliminated novel coronavirus on walls and floors in an experiment at a Tokyo university hospital.

Omron has begun global sales of automated carrier robots fitted with ultraviolet lights or disinfectant sprayers that can sanitize hospitals and schools to prevent coronavirus infections, the Japanese company said Friday.

Building on the innovative, partly physical, partly web-based project “Handshake” initiated by design duo AATB and swissnex Boston, a Switzerland-Japan-US online panel discussion was organized in collaboration with the Science & Technology Office Tokyo, Embassy of Switzerland in Japan. The tricontinental program resulted in “Japan” and “Tokyo” becoming the top two hits by far among destinations engaging with the Swiss demonstration which connected the world with real hand-shaped robots that could be accessed online for interaction with others.

An autonomous mobility system that works like a wheelchair without anyone pushing it is scuttling around a Tokyo airport to help with social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A Japanese medical technology company plans to develop a robot that can automate much of the process of coronavirus testing, as concerns mount in the country over a potential second wave of infections.

One robot can use a toilet brush to scrub porcelain bowls all by itself. Another lets humans work on faraway assembly lines with fine motor skills, thanks to virtual reality gloves.

Sony looks to enhance next-generation robots from avatarin, a startup launched by Japanese carrier ANA Holdings, as interest grows in remote-control machines that can take the place of humans amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.