A supermarket in Kyoto added a robot that looks like something out of a Star Wars movie to its workforce in early December to help elderly shoppers.

A shopper can send a shopping list from her remote control to a robot in advance. When she arrives at the supermarket, the robot greets her at the entrance, helps locate the items on the list and even gives some suggestions on shopping.

The roboshopper is a recent version developed by the ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International) Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Kyoto.

And it is also a reminder that the robot revolution in Japan has started to move from the factory floor to places like supermarkets, homes and hospitals.

Japan is home to almost half of the world’s 800,000 factory robots. Technological progress has helped various kinds of robots to emerge, including ones that clean floors, pour drinks, serve sushi, slice vegetables, act in plays, and function as security guards.

Narito Hosomi, president of Toyo Riki Co Ltd in Osaka, started producing communication robots four years ago. His company has designed and manufactured industrial robots for nearly half a century.

The company developed a robot that can help patients’ rehabilitation as a shortage of caregivers poses a growing problem in Japan’s ageing society.

Another robot, looking like a manga character, welcomes visitors as a "guard" at a hospital entrance at night.

"I just wanted to contribute to society by turning to robots to help resolve issues of ageing," Hosomi said.

Japan’s population of people aged 65 years and older is expected to climb to 31.8% of the total by 2030, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Hosomi also showcased a robo-chef (above), spatula in hand, which flipped Japanese pancakes at recent expos while Secom, a security-service corporation, also came out with a robot called My Spoon (left) that helped disabled people eat a meal.

Norihiro Hagita, director of the ATR, said more robots are helping people, including senior citizens and the physically-challenged, with everyday chores.

He said humans are beginning to alter the relationship between man and machine. Like the elderly shopper who is helped by a robot, "we see more humans networking with communication robots these days".

Curt Stone, an expert at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said humans had yet to redefine their relationship with machines.

"If we’re going to change that relationship, a machine has to be able to react like a person to what another person wants," Stone said.

Many people have learned how to use machines and computers, and now machines have to "try to understand" how humans behave and what humans are saying, Hagita said.

"Robot research means researching humans themselves."

Unlike robots many Japanese people see in the movies and comics, a robot does not have to be a physical embodiment, Stone said.

"A robot is not just a machine," Stone argued. "But it’s a system behind it, where we move from a humanoid robot in your home to your cell phone, to your car and to a grocery store, and it follows you around. The entire system is a robot."

Hagita said: "We see robots as media just like a mobile phone. And just like a mobile phone, robots would be indispensable in future."

An increasing number of Japanese are readily showing an interest in robots. The international robot exhibition held in Tokyo in late November drew 100,000 visitors in four days.

"Many Japanese people got familiar with manga characters in their childhood," Hosomi said. "I think that contributes a sense of affinity to robots." – dpa