Wired News has an article discussing the spread of automated toilets to America. While on the face of it this article may seem humerous, I think this is exactly the kind of application of technology and robotics that we will see proliferating as opposed to Marshall Brain’s commentary “Robotic Nation”.
The Japanese company Toto discusses it’s plans to move into the United States. Many people laugh at the Japanese fixations with gadgets and technology, but in many ways their society is ideally setup to be an incubator to show us what’s next in the mass application of technology. With real-estate and automobiles both exhorbitantly expensive in Japan, consumers naturally spend much of their disposable income on other items (meals, and… gadgets). The Japanese are willing to spend more money for something that Americans would deam less practical, as it takes a smaller percentage of their disposable income.
Thus, if we look at what’s available in Japan, the successful goods are no doubt what we will see in America in a few years once mass production has decreased their price to a point where American Consumers will see a strong value proposition.
What Japan’s markets show us is NOT massive development of general purpose humanoid robots, but rather integration of electronics and robotics into appliances, household goods, etc. Robotic kitchen appliances vie for consumers money with high-tech bathrooms.
No doubt, after a few years or a decade of experimentation, when the most successful implementations have been refined and their cost significanlty lower, American society will follow a similar pattern of integrating robotics into our economy and our lifestyle.
Automated Loo
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Wired News has an article discussing the spread of automated toilets to America. While on the face of it this article may seem humerous, I think this is exactly the kind of application of technology and robotics that we will see proliferating as opposed to Marshall Brain’s commentary “Robotic Nation”.
The Japanese company Toto discusses it’s plans to move into the United States. Many people laugh at the Japanese fixations with gadgets and technology, but in many ways their society is ideally setup to be an incubator to show us what’s next in the mass application of technology. With real-estate and automobiles both exhorbitantly expensive in Japan, consumers naturally spend much of their disposable income on other items (meals, and… gadgets). The Japanese are willing to spend more money for something that Americans would deam less practical, as it takes a smaller percentage of their disposable income.
Thus, if we look at what’s available in Japan, the successful goods are no doubt what we will see in America in a few years once mass production has decreased their price to a point where American Consumers will see a strong value proposition.
What Japan’s markets show us is NOT massive development of general purpose humanoid robots, but rather integration of electronics and robotics into appliances, household goods, etc. Robotic kitchen appliances vie for consumers money with high-tech bathrooms.
No doubt, after a few years or a decade of experimentation, when the most successful implementations have been refined and their cost significanlty lower, American society will follow a similar pattern of integrating robotics into our economy and our lifestyle.