Mira Robotics developed its "Ugo" robot to reinforce greying Japan's shrinking workforce, but as the coronavirus threat persists, the Japanese startup is offering its machine as a tool in the fight against the outbreak, the company's CEO said.
It takes around 30 minutes to learn how to use the robot, with each operator able to control as many as four machines, said Matsui. Ugo which costs around $1,000 (roughly Rs 75,500) a month to rent, can be deployed as a security guard, carry out equipment inspections and clean toilets and other areas in office buildings, he added.
"The coronavirus has created a need for robots because they can reduce direct contact between people," Ken Matsui told Reuters at his company's workshop in Kawasaki, near Tokyo. "We've had inquiries from overseas, including from Singapore and France."
The latest feature of the remote-controlled or so-called avatar robot is a hand attachment that uses ultra-violet light to kill viruses on door handles.
An unprecedented population decline that is shrinking Japan’s workforce by more than half a million people a year, as well as a reluctance to bring in foreign labor to fill vacant positions, has spurred robot development in Japan.
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