It’s pretty fascinating seeing the growing rift between the East and West when it comes to dreaming up and developing robots. There’s probably an entire thesis’ worth of material to examine what the United States’ and Japan’s priorities are concerning robotics and their real-world applications and how it directly reflects their respective cultures, their histories, etc. Especially interesting is when you have worldwide auto industry giant Toyota declaring that robotics to be one of the company’s core businesses within the next ten years or so. The West may not be so accepting of robots outside of factory assembly lines or novelty household uses, but get a big-name automaker that tons of Americans trust to come up with something truly unique (see also: Honda and Asimo) and you might just have a true robotic revolution.

The Race for the Personal and Service Robot Market (via Newsweek)

By Stewart Smith