SAYA the Incredible Robot Receptionist

Ever wondered when the time would come when robots would be free to roam the earth? Well not really to walk among us, but only to be intertwined in the society. If you could put some consideration on science's new advances in robotics, then definitely you would be amazed at how we are now one step closer to a science fiction world filled with robots.

SAYA, a Japanese-manufactured receptionist robot developed at Tokyo University, was created and designed to replace human receptionists in the future. Perhaps the notion could still serve as an exaggeration today, but their purpose is already clear; that is to take on the human jobs and tasks. And for SAYA here, the jobs of secretaries and receptionists.

And who would have thought that they'd be very capable on that area. SAYA, being multifunctional, can talk and hold basic conversations with guests guiding them through a company building or leading them to the workers' offices. She can also answer basic questions consisting of 300 words or about 700 phrases as an added feature.

Despite her being a robot, she is specially designed to retain a form of human interaction that should only exist between guests and a receptionist. The developers found this as a necessary tool so as not to drive the visitors and customers of an establishment away.

To date, she is one the most advanced humanoid robots developed to mimic our facial expressions and human behavior. The interior of SAYA's fleshy facial "skin" is composed of 18 programmable plates that manipulate the movements on her face to make a barely passable human expression. Well at least this department has yet to be developed.

When asked about the overall effectiveness of SAYA in work and her efficiency in performing tasks, her developers defend that she can be quite handy too. With her multifunctional features (functionalities not face), any firm that buys the robot can definitely save on its salaries and wages expenses as SAYA will never ask for a raise. Not to mention that she can survive any overtime work and not a single word of complaint. Talk about effective!

But SAYA isn't the only robot worker readily available in the market today. Microsoft has just demonstrated their software-based version of robot attendants. Another Japanese robot developing firm, Japan's Business Design, offered their new release of Mechadroid Type C3 that uses cutting-edge technology on face recognition. Even China has started developing their crafted versions.

The Japanese government, including a nationwide effort, justifies that their researches on robot workers are due to their forecasted aging population. In seven years time, one out of four Japanese will reach the age of 65. As consequence, the nation's workforce will decrease drastically leading them to rely on their development of robots like SAYA.

Robot workers, in fields ranging from manufacturing to entertainment to security are widely developed in Japan nowadays, filling them in on their industries with the hopes of preventing the forecasted labor crisis.

Their government is willing to allocate $35 million for the cause, envisioning that by 2015 every household will a have its own robot. Just don't make them do waterworks or they'll break.

Almost every aspect of Japan now has been integrated with robots. Perhaps this pioneering step would serve as the key for other countries to follow thus hastening the realization of a "world full of robots". And when we least expect it, the science fiction world that we thought we'd only see in cinemas are already among us doing our bidding.

Resource:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25166109-5014239,00.html
http://snagwiremedia.com/saya-the-robot-receptionist/
http://www.plasticbamboo.com/2007/03/05/saya-the-robot-receptionist