The Ubiko is yet another robot to come out of Japan, but this one plans to steal jobs from hard working Americans. You see, Ubiko is a helper robot, in that he helps greet customers, talks up products on display and do other such menial tasks commonly found in a service economy. Apparently, it’s got an annoying voice as well, so really, it’s not at all unlike the greeters at Wal-Mart and the like.
Such labor doesn’t exactly come cheap, as the robot costs nearly $900 to rent per two-hour block. Do you know how many disaffected high school kids you could hire for that kind of money?
Ubiko looks friendly enough, but you have to wonder what he’ll be like when his switch is flipped from “good” to “evil.”
Product Page (in Japanese) [Ubiko via Akihabara News]
