Japan’s Humanoid Robots
Listening to: Message In A Bottle - The Police
The Economist has an article on
the Japanese attitudes to robots. There is nothing terribly new there… but it is
good to see all the major thoughts collected there. The one new thing (for me) was
the theory about the impact of Shintoism:
Most Japanese take an eclectic approach to religious beliefs, and the
native religion, Shintoism, is infused with animism: it does not make clear distinctions
between inanimate things and organic beings. A popular Japanese theory about robots,
therefore, is that there is no need to explain why Japanese are fond of them: what
needs explaining, rather, is why westerners allow their Christian hang-ups to get
in the way of a good technology. When Honda started making real progress with its
humanoid-robot project, it consulted the Vatican on whether westerners would object
to a robot made in man’s image.
I found this interesting because of some events at the
2005 Provoke conference. Pablo gave a fascinating
presentation on the DS Nintendogs product. While the presentation covered a vast range
of issues from business strategy to technology the biggest hang up people had was
“why would you want a simulated dog? a real one would be better.” The obvious answer
was that if you live in a built up area like Tokyo… a real dog isn’t too practical.
I now wonder if the impact of Shintoism adds another dimension to the attraction of
virtual pets in Japan. Maybe it allows them to be seen as being more real than westerners
see them. Maybe it ensures that they are considered to be almost acceptable substitutes
for the real deal.
