Avatar robot cafe in Tokyo provides independence for bedridden ‘pilots’

TOKYO — A single encounter can change a life. For 30-year-old Masato Nagahiro, a resident of the Japanese capital’s Minato Ward, that change happened when he was 25.

Bedridden due to an incurable disease, Nagahiro, called “Masa” by his friends, had never worked or held a part-time job. Worries about the future led him to think that he didn’t even really want to live a long life.

However, that was when he first encountered an “avatar robot cafe” and his new allies there. By remotely controlling a serving robot, he was able to try a customer service job, something he had never imagined he’d be able to do.

Cafe packed with foreign visitors

On Sept. 1, despite bad weather due to Typhoon Shanshan, the Avatar Robot Cafe Dawn in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district was bustling with customers. Nagahiro was piloting a mobile OriHime-D robot in the cafe, operated by OryLab Inc., from his home using a computer, serving food to the guests. Nagahiro says he has become familiar with controlling the machine, which he does using methods including eye movements.

Bringing an order that included coffee and apple juice to the table of a parent and child, Nagahiro asked in a friendly tone, “Have you finished your homework?” With the boom in foreign visitors to Japan, Nagahiro also sees a lot of customers from overseas. He gets to speak English with them, his cheerful manner perfectly suited to the situation. On this day, all sorts of conversations were ringing out between the avatar robots and patrons.

‘What can I do?’

When he was 1 year and 2 months old, Nagahiro was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a neuromuscular disorder that results in progressively weaker muscles. He requires care for daily tasks, and has never walked on his own. He has also undergone a tracheotomy and uses a respirator.

After graduating from a Tokyo metropolitan night school, he advanced to a communications university, but left after finding he lacked passion for studying. Thinking, “What is there that I can do?” his worries about the future loomed large.

At that point, he noticed a post on social media about recruitment for avatar robot “pilots,” which is what OryLab calls those like Nagahiro who operate the devices. He recalled thinking, “A store using robots? That sounds interesting, and it might work out since it’s remote controlled. Even if I mess up, the most they could do is get mad at me, so I’ll give it a try.”

Nagahiro became one of the original staffers at the cafe in 2018. People with all sorts of conditions and disabilities that limited their ability to go out were working there as robot pilots.

Until then, Nagahiro had spoken only with a limited set of people such as family members and caregivers. At first, he had great difficulty speaking with customers. “I was drenched in sweat,” he recalled. He was helped along by fellow pilots with more life experience, and gradually gained confidence.

Game development, and playing soccer

Independence was the theme for a meeting this August of people who require artificial respiration and their family members. As a panelist, Nagahiro confidently shared what the word meant to him: “Gaining friends who’ll support you and creating a place where you belong.” His mother reportedly has also sensed Nagahiro’s personal development in the way he has become able to make his own decisions.

The world has expanded thanks to the progress of technology and the presence of allies. Nagahiro has created an original computer game, titled “A robot girl changes my life as a bedridden boy,” using himself and his allies at the cafe as a motif, working on it through to its release for sale. And while he never expected to have any connection to sports, by attaching caterpillar treads to a smaller, stationary OriHime robot, he has been able to enjoy soccer.

‘100 years isn’t enough’

At present, there are reportedly some 90 avatar robot pilots living both within and beyond Japan. Nagahiro is enjoying a fulfilling life, introducing recommended items and doing other things at places including a social welfare store in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.

This is the same Nagahiro who used to think he didn’t want to live long. Now, he wants to play violin, sports, and do 3D modelling among a plethora of activities. “Even if I live 100 years, that isn’t enough,” Nagahiro now believes wholeheartedly.

(Japanese original by Yuji Semba, Tokyo City News Department)