Robots at the service of the disabled: Working from home as avatar pilots

Humans and robots work together in harmony at the Dawn cafe in downtown Tokyo. The robots are called “Let’s go». The name refers to a princess from Japan, who stars in a traditional, but also unfortunate love story. The idea for the robots came from 34-year-old Kentaro Yoshifui. “What we wanted” explains the worried inventor, “was to find ways for people with special needs to gain better access to society. But we also wanted to discover something new. And so we thought of customer service, with Orihime taking orders and serving».

The inauguration took place for symbolic reasons during the Paralympic Games of Tokyo. In fact, robots work as “avatars”, because they are directed from afar, specifically by people with disabilities, who are usually confined to the house and work as “pilots”, directing the movements of the machines. A typical example is the young Arisa Nemoto. He has been suffering from exhaustion syndrome for a few years now, he feels pain all over his body and can hardly move. Thus she failed to fulfill her dream of working in a medical profession. He is now a “pilot” of the avatars.

“I’m finally talking to people”

“I’ve always lived alone,” she says. “Before I started working in the cafe, it could take whole days to talk to a person. And when I talked, for example with the doctor or the nursing staff, I always said the same things. But since he started this job, I’ve been talking to people a lot more…” A total of 70 hourly paid “pilots” work at the cafe, while hundreds more have sent resumes to Kentaro Yoshifui to take on “pilot” duties.». As for the remuneration, however, secrecy prevails.

Arisha says that this job has given her new confidence, even if she is not present, but at least she can observe the behavior and reactions of customers from a distance, through a screen. “I feel great joy when I see a smile on a customer’s face or when they tell me how glad they are that we spoke together“, he says characteristically. With the help of robotic technology the “pilot” Arisha can express twelve different emotional states. Orihime can move their arms and can also move left and right.

Talking to a robot

Some come to the cafe just to chat with the eager robots. They say it’s easier to strike up a conversation with a robot or an avatar than with a real person. Jubei Sugita, who lives alone and has already counted 83 visits to the avatar cafe, thinks so too. As he says, “we usually talk about routine matters. But someday I plan to borrow a robot and travel with it. So we will be able to visit many different places…».

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