When it comes to the robotization of the workforce - especially those who proclaim they earn less than they are worth - we have grown used to the fast-food-worker being upstaged by technology. However, Murata Manufacturing Co. [5] has unleashed the ultimate threat to every financial TV media's anchor... the world’s first cheerleading robots. With ratings plunging, perhaps it's time for managers to consider the dancing pom-pom carrying machines as replacements to say "off the lows."
[6]
As Wall Street Journal reports, [5]
The robots, which Murata showed off Thursday, balance on balls to move around and wave plastic pompons in the air. Gyro sensors inside the robots allow them to stay upright while moving.
...
“They are small girls, but they show what electronics can do,” he said.
The Murata cheerleaders, which are about 36 centimeters, or 14 inches, tall, are not the only new robots on the scene here. Softbank Corp., the Japanese telecommunications giant, plans to make a humanoid robot called Pepper available in stores next year.
While the robots are made of metal and plastic, with hair fashioned from a sponge-like material, the group does have some characteristics that resemble real-life cheerleading squads. There are two backup members, for example.
“If one gets sick, we can substitute her,” said Koichi Yoshikawa, a spokesman for Murata.
* * *
At a demonstration in Tokyo, a troupe of 10 of the robots moved around in unison to form circles, squares and heart formations, to the bouncy accompaniment of J-pop music.
* * *
Of course, in reality this could never work... since the robots would inevitably question their sanity as constant cheerleaders... unlike real world money-honeys.
