Metrobot squad infiltrates Seoul subway

South Koreans have drawn attention for plans to have a robot in every home by 2010. That faraway goal came a step closer today when the Seoul subway began deploying a small army of service robots called Metrobots to assist travelers.

The humanoid machines can provide information about subway fees, restaurants, tourist attractions and maps in Korean and English. Ten Metrobots are to work at City Hall and nine other transfer stations on the busy Metropolitan Subway system.

What with Japan's Asimo and Korea's Hubo in near-parallel development, I wonder whether this bit of one-upmanship in the robot arms race will see a flood of Wakamaru bots hitting the Tokyo underground.

Machine mascot for commuter millions

I just picked up the latest rechargeable Tokyo transit card, introduced this week. Aside from being the first universal card that gets you onto buses, trains and subways in the Japanese capital, it's noteworthy for having a robot character. Which is pink, natch.

Pasmo, as it's called, can be used on services run by some 60 transport firms in the Tokyo area, including East Japan Railway. It's a contactless integrated circuit card and can be charged with up to 20,000 yen ($170). It can also be used as e-money at retailers like department store giant Tokyu Corp.

The smart card cost operators 140 billion yen in installation costs for the electronic readers and took fifteen months to work out and test. A simulation involving 1.23 billion transit connections was also performed.

So why a robot mascot? The card-issuing company says robots aren't dull inorganic matter, they represent "kindness toward humans" and "convenience." It adds that normally the Pasmobot itself commutes with the card in its pocket, but when in a rush it "transforms into a bus or train." Naturally.

No old-school symbols of locomotion like the greyhound for the Japanese. It's the machine or bust.