Iris Ohyama, a major household goods manufacturer headquartered in Sendai City, has established a joint venture with a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group, and has decided to start developing commercial catering robots, which are in high demand due to corona damage.
This was announced on the 27th by both companies holding an online press conference.
The two companies will establish a joint venture in Sendai City on the 1st of next month and proceed with development because the demand for commercial robots that provide services without human intervention is increasing due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. That is.
As the first step, we will combine AI camera technology with a robot that cleans the inside of the store, add a function to notify you of product shortages, and sell a serving robot that can get on and off the elevator using a wireless control system. I'm going to get started.
Demand for such commercial robots is increasing mainly in the retail and service industries, and Akihiro Oyama, president of Iris Ohyama, said, "I want to develop products that help prevent infection and solve labor shortages, and aim to be the top in the industry." I was talking.
In addition, Fumihide Tomizawa, president of SoftBank Robotics, said, "I hope that by incorporating the development capabilities of Iris Ohyama, we will be able to create new and interesting robots."