TOKYO (AP) \u2014 Mechanical hands dexterous enough to thread a needle, childlike dancing robots, and adult-sized ones to help with deliveries were on display Thursday as the Humanoids Summit Tokyo opened.<\/p>\n
Among the dozens of companies taking part, including well-known players like Boston Dynamics<\/a> and Toyota Motor Corp.<\/a>, the big stars now were clearly the Chinese<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chinese newcomers, like Booster Robotics and LimX Dynamics, took the technology initially developed in Japan and the U.S. and fine-tuned it, often for cheaper mass production. It\u2019s a repeat of what happened in other Japanese industries, from consumer electronics to cellphones and electric vehicles. In humanoids, Japan was initially ahead but then failed<\/a> to produce major commercial solutions.<\/p>\n Tim Hornyak, author of \u201cLoving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots,\u201d who was at the event, categorized it as the so-called \u201cGalapagos syndrome,\u201d referring to how innovative Japanese products evolve in isolation and end up not translating for the international market.<\/p>\n \u201cI really hope that Japan can come up with a Ford Model T-version of humanoid roots. But I think China has already stolen their lunch. It\u2019s a bit too little too late,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The dancing and wiggling Mini Pi Plus robot from High Torque of China, for instance, still can\u2019t help at an auto plant or do your dishes. But it\u2019s cute. And it doesn\u2019t come with an eye-popping price tag, starting at $5,500.<\/p>\n Chinese robots are dominating<\/p>\n One telling example of Chinese robotics use in Japan was GMO, a Tokyo-based AI and robotics company working on a humanoid with camera eyes that will help with Japan Airlines cargo and other chores at an airport.<\/p>\n The key is to have the robot do the work in the same way as people so they would be interchangeable, an initiative meant to tackle the labor shortage problem that is increasingly serious in Japan.<\/p>\n The inner robotics workings were all courtesy of Unitree<\/a>, a Chinese outfit, which is also working on a four-legged dog-like \u201cstellar explorer.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts say Japan, with its finesse in manufacturing, proved a good breeding ground for robotics development. The sociological backdrop of a public receptive to robotics also helped.<\/p>\n A recent Pew global survey showed that people in Japan are highly aware of AI but are less anxious about it, at about 28%, than people in the U.S. at 50%.<\/p>\n Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., a leader in robotics with its walking humanoid Asimo<\/a>, first shown in 2000, was demonstrating a motorized four-fingered robotic hand that could screw on and off tiny bolts, or thread a needle.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t seem to bother Keisuke Tsuta, assistant chief engineer, that similar mechanical hands were on display galore near his booth, many of them from Chinese makers.<\/p>\n Japanese robotics show their prowess<\/p>\n The technology Honda had developed is more durable and powerful than rival offerings, and the Japanese have historically shown they can excel at quality mass production, according to Tsuta.<\/p>\n The looming threat of a Chinese robotics domination didn\u2019t seem to phase Osaka University Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has worked on humanoids for decades<\/a>, including one that\u2019s his clone.<\/p>\n