Fiddle me this

Toyota Motor has unveiled its latest awesome robot musician - a violin player. The Toyota Partner Robot is an addition to the automaker's lineup of gigging droids that includes drummers and trumpet players.

The violinist did a rendition of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" in a display that was dexterous but a tad, er, robotic.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters the Partner robot will have a big role in helping take care of old people as Japan's population ages rapidly. The firm's robot staff of 100 will be doubled and a new robot research center will be built, he added.

Yet Watanabe admitted Toyota is still exploring possible business models for its humanoid robots.

Robots need to be successful products to have any real impact on everyday life. While the violinist is a nice engineering feat, getting it to tidy up a room and do the laundry would be a real breakthrough.

Toyota to sell Partner Robots

Toyota Motor has marked the 70th anniversary of its founding by announcing a long-term business plan that calls for the commercialization of its humanoid Partner Robots for jobs like housekeeping and nursing support.

The Toyota Global Vision 2020 plan sees robots as a core business for the leading automaker, which also plans to make hybrid technology available for its entire fleet of vehicles.

There were no details on the timing of the commercialization of the Partner Robots, which debuted as a robot orchestra at the 2005 Aichi Expo in Japan.

Via Mainichi Shimbun

A mechanical bedside manner

More Japanese companies are developing or planning to develop partner robots, especially in the field of medicine, according to a recent survey by Nikkei Inc.

About 56% of of 68 firms surveyed indicated they're in or may enter the partner robot business, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Medical care and nursing were the top applications, followed by play and entertainment, then receptionists and guides.

For instance, major Japanese security services firm Secom Co. has sold 200 units of My Spoon, a robotic tabletop eating assistant retailing for around 400,000 yen ($3,300). It's designed to help those who don't have use of their arms. While it's taken five years to reach 200, a new financial aid program by the Japanese Federation of Organizations of Disabled Persons may help sales.

Meanwhile, only 22% of the surveyed firms reported operating profit for 2006. High manufacturing costs and safety concerns were cited as the biggest obstacles to profitability. The former is reflected in relatively high per-unit prices for the category, between 500,00 and 1 million yen (about $4,000-8,000).