News On Japan

Japanese AI venture develops autonomous tidying-up robot

Oct 18, 2018 (Kyodo) - Preferred Networks Inc., a Japanese venture specializing in artificial intelligence, unveiled on Tuesday a fully autonomous tidying-up robot for home use.

The Tokyo-based startup created software for the cylindrical robot, around 100 to 135 centimeters tall and weighing some 37 kilograms, which was developed by Toyota Motor Corp. for assisting the elderly and disabled.

The support robot features a camera on the top of it that enables it to recognize objects scattered in a room such as socks, toys and stationery. Moving at a maximum speed of 800 meters per hour, it uses a folding arm to pick up and place such materials in designated locations.

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

The death toll from the record-breaking heavy rain in Chiba Prefecture has risen to eight, with one person still missing and damage reported to at least 170 homes as flooding, landslides, water outages and transport disruptions continued on August 14.

Japan's weather agency raised the volcanic alert level for Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture from Level 2 to Level 3 on August 14 after volcanic tremors strengthened and gas emissions increased sharply, warning people to stay away from areas within about 2 kilometers of the Nakadake No. 1 crater.

Typhoon No. 17 (Nangka) remained near Minamitorishima as of 3 a.m. on August 14 and is expected to stay relatively weak, but forecasters warned that high waves and sudden swells could affect Japan's Pacific coast, posing a risk to swimmers and others enjoying marine activities during the summer holiday period.

Google opened its first flagship store in Japan in Tokyo's Omotesando district at 2 p.m. on August 13, marking the company's first flagship retail location outside the United States.

A mysterious red light stretching vertically across the night sky over Kanagawa Prefecture has been identified as a rare "sprite," a brief luminous phenomenon that occurs high above thunderclouds at roughly the same time as powerful lightning strikes.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A 12-year-old British girl visiting Japan on a family trip has been reported missing after surveillance footage showed her leaving a private lodging facility alone in Tokyo's Ota Ward on the morning of August 13.

An Akita prefectural official has been suspended for six months and demoted two ranks after an investigation found he had joined an online media interview from a love hotel while with a woman who was not his wife, despite initially claiming he was at home because he was unwell.

A 39-year-old father was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest on August 15 after entering the sea to rescue his two young sons who appeared to be in difficulty off the coast of Toyoura, Hokkaido.

Two pet pythons measuring about 2 meters in length escaped from an apartment in Kawasaki's Tama Ward early on August 13, prompting police and firefighters to search the surrounding residential area and warn local residents.

Fifteen days after the Kumamoto earthquake, restoration of electricity and transport infrastructure is progressing, but thousands of people are believed to remain outside official shelters, while rising construction costs and interest rates are creating new challenges for rebuilding homes and restoring livelihoods.

Two teenage boys from Tokyo's Adachi Ward have been arrested on suspicion of stealing a motorcycle and firing aerial fireworks toward police officers at two police boxes, telling investigators they were annoyed that a new police box had opened in the area.

Hiroko Saito was 19 years old when she left Japan for North Korea in June 1961 with her Korean husband and their one-year-old daughter, persuaded by assurances that they were heading to a "paradise on earth" and that she could return to Japan after three years. Instead, she would spend four decades in North Korea, enduring chronic hunger, the deaths of her husband and children and a desperate struggle to survive before finally escaping and returning home in 2001.

A fire broke out late on August 11 at Daido Steel's Chita Plant in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, burning through an outdoor area containing scrap metal and other materials, with no injuries reported and no flames spreading to nearby buildings.