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Now, rent a robot by the hour

Japanese job referral company offers a temporary worker

Ubiko, the robot

TOKYO: Ubiko, a robot-on-wheels with a catlike face, is joining the crew of temporary workers that a Japanese job-referral company hopes will be used at stores, events and even weddings.

Next month, the 113-cm tall robot will be selling mobile phones at a store, said a spokeswoman at the company, Ubiquitous Exchange. Ubiko can be hired as a temporary worker for two hours for 105,000 yen (about Rs. 40,000). "We see this as serious business. There are jobs that robots are better at," she said. "People do develop an attachment with the robot, and it's lovable."

The 30 million yen (about Rs. 1.15 crore) Ubiko, which comes mounted with a camera and infrared sensors, greets customers with a nasal electronic voice, shows DVDs with the projector in its head and hands out balloons and other goods with wireless remote-controllable metallic arms.

Ubiko is short for "ubiquitous computing" and "ubiquitous company." It sounds like a Japanese female name, which often end with "ko." Tmsuk, the Japanese manufacturer that made the robot, sold three last month to a hospital, where they are working as full-time, rather than temporary, receptionists and guides.

One of the robots at the hospital, which serves as a reception, has a touch-panel , and visitors can use it to get directions for where they want to go, and has been programmed to greet visitors. — AP

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