Panasonic Collaborates with Academia to Develop Consumer Robot

Panasonic is joining hands with Academia, an American academics-based social networking website to develop consumer robots, Japanese news agency, Kyodo News reported on Thursday.

The new innovation is a wearable, ‘third arm’ for construction workers and the company believes that it will become a fixture of life as Japan’s population ages.

Tatsuo Ogawa, executive officer at Panasonic said that despite labor shortage and rapid aging in the society, robots are getting ready to do the role of humans since earlier they were only used in the manufacturing sector. People don’t have that much knowledge about robots when it comes to human interaction.

Earlier, Panasonic made a partnership with Waseda University Professor Hiroyasu Iwata to carry out a “third arm” initiative, which showcased an example of such an innovation. The project started when Panasonic Homes CO announced that there was difficulty among construction workers while attaching ceiling boards.

The new robotic arm would help a construction worker to hold objects through voice commands. To operate the device, the worker needs to attach it on the arms and just give instructions using the eye movements.

Mr. Iwata said Kyodo news that he wanted to explore opportunities with the help of the robotic arm, which will help him do something productive. By sharing the idea with the master class techniques of companies like Panasonic, people can create a product that attracts consumers.  

The new robot initiative will be really great for the aging population in Japan and it could be a major breakthrough for Panasonic in their list of innovations.