Avatars for people with disabilities: an unusual cafe opened in Tokyo

Avatars for people with disabilities: an unusual cafe opened in Tokyo

 

Image: robots and visitors of the cafe

 

November 26 in Tokyo the cafe called Dawn ver.β opened its doors to visitors. All his waiters are robots, but nowadays just robots are no longer surprising. The fact is that five mechanical employees are remotely controlled by living people with one important feature: in ordinary life they are paralyzed and unable to move independently. 

The unique technology that allows a paralyzed person to control the robot from a distance was invented by Ory engineers. This is a Japanese startup specializing in innovative solutions for people with disabilities. Their new development, the OriHime-D robot, is only 120 cm high. The operator is a paralyzed person who can command the robot to move, look around, talk to other people and pass on objects. One can control the mechanical avatar even with eye movements, which opens new opportunities for people with especially severe health situation. 
 

Cafe will work in test mode until December 7. The organizers intend to open a permanent cafe by 2020, when the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Tokyo.

Video presentation of the OriHime-D robots and the cafe: