Japanese ventures form federation to develop and market robots

Four Japanese robot manufacturing ventures have come together in a bid to create a broader consumer market for robots, and also to stay ahead of rising competition from South Korea. The four companies, Tmsuk, ZMP, Vstone and Business Design Laboratory Co (BDL) said they were forming a loose federation through which they would exchange technology with one another and also market their products overseas.

Japan has already established itself as a leader in robotics, turning out advanced models of humanoids that play the violin, babysit and help the elderly amongst other activities.

Though industrial robots are common in Japan and elsewhere, companies have yet to create a mass consumer market for humanoids. This is, in part, due to prohibitive costs of these products.

Forming their federation, the four companies said they hope to boost sale of their products at least ten times over the coming five years - to a total of 200,000 to 300,000 robots – as compared to now.

"In the coming decade, we believe robots will widely enter into our everyday lives. They have proven to be effective in services, education and entertainment," the four companies said in a joint statement.

"However, in order to expand their contribution to the overall national economy, it is essential not to stop at research and development but to directly engage in market operations," the newly created Federation for the Market Creation of Next-Generation Robots said.

Tmsuk president, Yoichi Takamoto, said Japan's leading status as a developer and producer of humanoids could be overtaken by high-tech neighbour South Korea, which has set a goal of a robot in every household by as early as 2013.

"I think that Japan's robotics technology is still number one, but I'm not sure how long that will be. South Korea is working quite hard in this field," said BDL president Kenji Kimura.