The robot pauses at the edge of the room as an engineer checks its sensors. Then, with a soft mechanical hum, this humanoid machine begins to move. It lifts a mannequin from a bed, slowly and carefully. The engineers hold their breath.

I am in a robotics lab in Tokyo, Japan, as part of my Wellcome research fellowship. The engineers have repeated this test hundreds of times over several weeks, with mixed results.

Japan has one of the world’s oldest populations, and a strained health and care workforce. It has also long been the global leader in the development and deployment of care robots.

While other countries are exploring robotic technologies, Japan stands out for the size of its investment over several decades, and the strong link between innovation and national policy.

Government-led initiatives such as Society 5.0 and Moonshot promote a “super-smart” society in which, by 2050, robots could be integrated into everyday life. One early example is the impending trial of humanoid baggage handlers at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

My research assesses what the introduction of robots means for care in Japan. This includes ethical and societal questions about affordability, privacy risks, data management and safety – and what the Japanese public thinks about these technologies.

In a care sector that is........

© The Conversation