Tech Shout!

Robots have walked their way into a Japanese hospital where an android receptionist and two porters work along with their human-halves.

The Aizu Central Hospital located in Aizu-Wakamatsu, around 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Tokyo unveiled the trio on October 28 at a cost of 60 million yen (508,000 dollars).

The receptionist robot has been produced by Japanese robot maker Tmsuk Co. Ltd. It welcomes visitors at the entrance and answers spoken inquiries.

“We expect that the robot industry will grow into one equal to that of the car industry,” said Shiro Fujita, director/manager of the Tmsuk Robot Corporation. “Healthcare work will be an important part of that industry.”

The two porter robots, which can move around on two wheels at a maximum speed of 1.5 kilometers per hour (about one mph), can carry luggage and take visitors and patients to their destinations. They can move through the 900-bed hospital with the aid of a laser-based motion detection system.

The 1.3 meter (four-foot four-inch) high white-and-green robotic porters can also alert people to obstacles with their sensors.

Hospital official Naoya Narita said, “They are the nation’s first receptionist and porter robots actually working in a hospital, and people’s reactions to them are quite positive.”

“By introducing them, we want to show the scene of a future hospital, where robots are getting along with patients and visitors,” Narita said, adding that the hospital is planning to introduce another robot next year.