Remote-controlled humanoid robot system

Labor shortage is a serious problem in Japan where the population is aging with an ever declining birthrate. The authors propose remote-controlled humanoid robots to assist working humans. The humanoid robot is provided with a real-time stereoscopic vision system and a hearing system capable of three-dimensional sound source searching. The manipulator in a remote place builds a virtual space within one sense to simulate the environment in which the robot is working. The necessary information on the robot environment is acquired through vision and hearing of the robot. This enables the manipulator to remote control the robot with a more direct virtual presence in real time. The authors also propose to use the robot as a remote monitor system.