Japanese job-referral company renting out robot as temporary worker

TOKYO (AP) - It can greet people, show DVDs and hand out balloons. "Ubiko," a robot-on-wheels with a catlike face, is joining the crew of temporary workers that a Japanese job-referral company hopes will be used at stores, events and even weddings. Next month, the 113 centimetre-tall robot will be selling mobile phones at a store, said Akiko Sakurai, a spokeswoman at the company, Ubiquitous Exchange. Ubiko can be hired as a temporary worker for two hours for US$890.

"We see this as serious business. There are jobs that robots are better at," Sakurai said Wednesday. "People do develop an attachment with the robot, and it's lovable."

The US$255,000 Ubiko, which comes mounted with a camera and infared sensors, greets customers with a nasal electronic voice, shows DVDs with the projector in its head and hands out balloons and other goods with wireless remote-controllable metallic arms, she said.

Ubiko is short for "ubiquitous computing" and "ubiquitous company," but also sounds like a Japanese female name, which often end with "ko."

Tmsuk, the Japanese manufacturer that made the robot, sold three last month to a hospital, where they are working as full-time, rather than temporary, receptionists and guides, said company spokeswoman Rie Sudo.

One of the receptionist robots at the hospital has a touch-panel on its body, and visitors can use it to get directions for where they want to go, and has been programmed to greet visitors.

"Just give it electricity, and a robot can work for long hours, even doing repetitive work, and you don't have to worry about labour laws," Sudo said.

Japan's declining birth rate means that in coming years it could face a labour shortage, and some experts believe that robots could be part of the answer in resolving that problem.

Robots are very popular in Japan partly because of the popularity of "manga" comics and animation that portray the robot as a friend and aide to humans.

© The Canadian Press, 2006