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A new Tokyo café now has robot waiters controlled remotely by disabled workers

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delete12345

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
20,143
Boston, MA
Tokyo's latest café run by robots officially opened in Nihonbashi. Unlike Shinjuku's Robot Restaurant, where humans dressed as robots put on a dinner show, Dawn Avatar Robot Café features real humanoid robots waiting on customers and serving food and drink. It's not a gimmick, though: the café operates as an accessible business by creating more job opportunities for disabled workers.

Here's how it works. These robots are operated remotely using via the internet, serving as avatars for people who can't leave the house for long periods of time due to physical disabilities, childcare or for other reasons.
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Source:

www.timeout.com

Now open: this Tokyo café has robot waiters controlled remotely by disabled workers

Nihonbashi's newly opened Dawn Avatar Robot Café is looking to create a barrier-free and inclusive Tokyo
www.timeout.com www.timeout.com

Restaurant:

dawn2021.orylab.com

分身ロボットカフェ DAWN 2021 - AVATAR ROBOT CAFE DAWN 2021

「分身ロボットカフェ」とは、株式会社オリィ研究所が主宰・運営する、ALSなどの難病や重度障害で外出困難な人々が、分身ロボット「OriHime」「OriHime-D」を遠隔操作しサービススタッフとして働く実験カフェです。私たちはこのカフェの開催によって「動けないが働きたい」という意欲ある外出困難者たちに雇用を生み出すと同時に、人々の社会参加を妨げている課題をテクノロジーによって克服することを目指しています。
dawn2021.orylab.com dawn2021.orylab.com


This is a follow-up:

www.resetera.com

Japan: Cafe staffed by robots piloted by people with disabilities to open in Tokyo News

https://japantoday.com/category/tech/cafe-staffed-by-robots-piloted-by-people-with-disabilities-opening-in-tokyo We're in the future now! ROBOT CAFE!!
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com


/u/Detail_Lost said:
Pilots of these robots have been tweeting things like, they've been stuck in their bed most of their life and they never thought they'd be able to chit chat with their colleagues as they pass by in the hallway.

It's interesting they're experiencing "remote work" in a opposite way from many of us under WFH.
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mbpm

mbpm

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,371
Huh. Y'know, this might be good to have for more than just these people in particular.
 
Joe

Joe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,787
That's really cool.

My first thought went to the subminimum wage that we have in the United States, where it's legal for companies to pay below the minimum wage for people with certain disabilities, and how fucked up that is. It would be interesting if this were able to provide a workaround for some people who otherwise would get stuck making subminimum wage.

Also, I believe the preferred verbiage would be 'workers with disabilities'
 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,919
That's neat.


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👽
 
5taquitos

5taquitos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,079
OR
It's been a while since I've been and I can't remember, does Japan have a tipping culture? If so, I sure hope the tips make their way back to the servers.

This seems like a really cool idea though.
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,149
5taquitos said:
It's been a while since I've been and I can't remember, does Japan have a tipping culture? If so, I sure hope the tips make their way back to the servers.

This seems like a really cool idea though.
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I could be wrong ( and please correct me if I am) but I'm pretty sure there is no tipping and it might even be seen as rude in some circumstances.

On a side note tipping is a shitty concept so its not a surprise that most of the rest of the world besides the United States doesn't do tipping.
 
sumo

sumo

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Oct 30, 2017
636
User Banned (3 Days): Dismissive and Inflammatory Drive-By
how noble of them to allow handicapped people to sell their labour instead of having adequate social security.
 
echoshifting

echoshifting

very salt heavy
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,454
The Negative Zone
sumo said:
how noble of them to allow handicapped people to sell their labour instead of having adequate social security.
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You're letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is a private business, not a government body

Plenty of us prefer to work but lack opportunities. It's a separate issue.

Finally, please try to avoid saying handicapped.
 
SilentPanda

SilentPanda

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Nov 6, 2017
14,506
Earth
sumo said:
how noble of them to allow handicapped people to sell their labour instead of having adequate social security.
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Disability in Japan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

In November/December last year, the pop-up café 'DAWN ver.β' opened, where the servers were remotely controlled robots. Who was operating those robots?
For that event, we had patients suffering from ALS, muscular dystrophy and psychological illnesses. Individuals that, for whatever reason, found it impossible to leave the house – what they all had in common was the strong determination to work. The farthest operator that we had was based in Shimane prefecture, near Hiroshima, which is more than 700km away. For the café customers, I think they were able to see that, using remote devices, even bedridden individuals can be 'mobile'. And for the robot operators, I hope that they were able to really feel that 'mobility' is possible and that they don't have to be limited by their physical bodies.
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ZeldaGalaxy94

ZeldaGalaxy94

The Fallen
Nov 6, 2017
2,577
Sweden
Nice of them!
Great that people like me can get a job with the help of robots. For I am still to scared to look for a job of any kind.
This give me hope for my future.
I have big disability, like this people almost!
 
Jebusman

Jebusman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,126
Halifax, NS
I've read about the CEO before. He was bedridden as a child for years and the experience was so formative for him he was determined to find a way to let the bedridden participate in society the way the rest of us can. That loneliness is destructive and the cure isnt creating an AI friend to talk with, but find a way to let them talk and participate in public again.

Dude also sounds like if he could transfer his consciousness into a robot he would.
 
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brawndolicious

brawndolicious

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,067
echoshifting said:
You're letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is a private business, not a government body

Plenty of us prefer to work but lack opportunities. It's a separate issue.

Finally, please try to avoid saying handicapped.
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Yeah as far as I know, this is a business doing exactly the right thing. Obviously, things like healthcare and sufficient social safety nets to accommodate whatever conditions people have should exist, but those should not be tied to your employer or else it kind of puts the individual in a potentially exploitative position.

It reminds me of what a deaf friend once said about how hard it is to get a job or promotion since a lot of businesses hate the idea of doing anything to accommodate an employee with a disability. It's like people refuse to acknowledge that a person with a disability isn't going to be happy just living off a social security check, they need to actually participate in society and have equal economic opportunities in order to have a full life.
 
atomsk eater

atomsk eater

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,868
That's such a cool concept and useful for people with disabilities that want to work. I hope the restaurant does well and more people in the position to start businesses think about ways they can make it possible for people with disabilities to participate.
 
Desi

Desi

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,230
Jebusman said:
I've read about the CEO before. He was bedridden as a child for years and the experience was so formative for him he was determined to find a way to let the bedridden participate in society the way the rest of us can. That loneliness is destructive and the cure isnt creating an AI friend to talk with, but find a way to let them talk and participate in public again.

Dude also sounds like if he could transfer his consciousness into a robot he would.
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We got Mechamaru out here!
latest
 
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