TOKYO — Could it be that the Japanese view of robots as friendly helpers — and not as the rebellious, violent machines that populate much of Western science fiction — is rooted in the Shinto religion, which blurs the boundaries between animate and inanimate? To the Japanese psyche, this theory goes, a humanoid and sentient robot may simply not feel as creepy or threatening as it does in other cultures.
David Guttenfelder and I quickly found ourselves wrestling with questions like this after we embarked on a yearlong project to chronicle Japan’s robot obsession. What started as an amusing technology story soon evolved into an exploration of Japanese attitudes, culture and religion.
The robotics engineers we met were philosophers, pondering questions that boggled our minds. Can robots have a conscience? If so, how do you prove it? What does a robotic future, where humans and robots live side by side, look like? And when will it arrive?
“I’m fascinated by the topic, impressed by the science and engineering, and was blown away by some of the Japanese robot developers,” David wrote. “But I’m skeptical about robots and human connection. I think that my photos on this topic are dark and occasionally funny for that reason.”
As we chronicled more and more robots and their creators, it dawned on us: nobody in Japan really has any idea what the robotic future will be.
So imaginations have run wild — in many different directions.
We watched robots working as receptionists, serving tea, running errands as hospital aides and spoon-feeding the elderly.
Source: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/robot-invasion-welcomed-in-japan ; September 13, 2010.
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