Travel Where People Meet, Overcoming the Physical World and Distance (Part One)

There’s a fine line between daily life and the extraordinary for travelers and this project thinks about that point of view and the interpretations of the act of travel. This article covers “OriHime” an “alter ego” robot developed by OryLab Inc. The robot is controlled not by AI, but remotely by humans and as this article will show, this “alter ego” robot creates new connections between people.

Does travel mean physically going somewhere far? The act of tourism is defined as going somewhere that’s outside of your sphere of daily life. Meeting somewhere at your destination doesn’t necessarily mean physically going somewhere far, it could also mean meeting someone new in your daily life.

The pilots who control OriHime have a difficult time going outside, but they’re able to meet with guests from around the world who visit the café the robot works in, overcoming any limitations of a physical body. This exchange brings out a wonderful attraction at any destination, addresses labor shortages, and promotes an understanding of diversity – all issues within society. It brings out new possibilities in tourism.

Alter Ego Robot “OriHime” (All the Pilots)

The robot moves as people control it remotely, allowing those people to converse using the camera and microphone. The robot can express emotions using gestures. With a noh mask(*) as a motif in place, its design is a unique characteristic that allows people to imagine various expressions and creates a sense of realism, as if the person is right there physically with you.
The robot essentially allows people to overcome physical limits and to meet the people they want to. People can use the robot to remotely have conversations and exchanges. Starting with Alter Ego Robot Café DAWN ver.β, people with sicknesses and/or disabilities who find it hard to go out can participate in society from offices and hospitals around Japan.
　
(*) Noh masks are traditional Japanese wooden masks used in Noh theater, known for their subtle expressions that appear to change with light and angle.

What is OriHime, the Alter Ego Robot Who’s like a Teleporting Spirit?

I can never forget the first day I visited Alter Ego Robot Café DAWN ver.β in Nihonbashi, Tokyo a few years ago. The moment I entered the café, a beautiful green-eyed robot greeted and welcomed energetically me with a pure white face. At the tables, guests and robots were conversing with each other and medium-sized robots were carrying items on the floor.

Alter Ego Robot OriHime isn’t an autonomic self-moving robot powered by AI that you hear in the news in recent years. With this robot, a human controls it remotely, using it to converse and move in real time.

When I sat down in the café, the robot in front of us changed colors to green and greeted us saying, “Nice to meet you!” The expressions and feelings set relay what the person controlling feels and in addition, they add on body movements and the waving of hands. By doing so, an emotion-less robot like a pure white noh mask is filled with human emotions. Before I realized it, I felt like I was talking to a human and not a robot. It felt like that person was right there with us.

After having some fun conversation, they changed the pilots controlling the robots. When this happened, the robot’s green eyes turn off, almost as if the soul of the robot left its body. It awakened with a new soul. The term “soul transplant” comes to mind.

The OryLab Inc. the company that developed OriHime runs and owns this café, an experimental space for the firm. The firm allows people who’ve experienced difficulties leaving the home due to sicknesses or serious injuries to work in capacities such as customer service or as guides by controlling the robots. These people are called “pilots” and there are currently 70 pilots working in shifts.

To become a pilot, applicants must be physically limited from going outside and have difficulties finding gainful employment. There are people of many different backgrounds who are pilots. Some were born with difficult-to-treat conditions forcing them to lay in bed, some had accidents or chronic conditions that are progressively getting worse – physically preventing them from moving. Still, others have chemical sensitivities, developmental disorders or are waiting for a heart transplant. Some use eye-tracking input or control the robot with a stick in their mouths. Unable to go outside, the pilots have a difficult time finding work. With OriHime, they’re able to reconnect with society and be a part of a new way of working.

OriHime greets customers at the bar in the café, and OriHime-D, another robot with a height of 120 centimers is able to carry items to guests. (Photo provided by OryLab Inc.)

A Travel Where You Can Meet New People Without Having to Move

The First Exchange with a Pilot

The day I went to the café, I met three pilots in an hour. Each of them had a wonderfully unique introduction board, and some of them shared their hobbies and skills with me. What made an impression on me was how candidly they talked about their lives. Up until that point, I never had any deep exchanges with people who were bed-ridden or suffered heavy disabilities; I wasn’t sure if I should dive into this or not. However, the pilots were happy to meet me and happily told me I could ask them anything.

They talked about how they came to work here, their past and their lives. They talked about how they’re happy to be able to work from home, how they’re able to work customer service – something they thought to be difficult to do, and the joy of meeting guests and customers. They realized how when guests have fun, they also have fun. I could feel a strong sense of hospitality and creative originality. The café felt more than just a place where people worked, it felt alive. Even though I couldn’t see their physical bodies, I could feel those positive feelings leaving a lasting impression on me.

What is the true nature of encountering each other?

Travel means physically moving oneself to another location, but I also tend to think of it as a way to meet people I usually wouldn’t on a daily basis the farther I go out. But I don’t think I would ever come across the lives I’ve experienced here even if I went to the other side of the world. We’re in the same country, the same town, but we may have passed by each other. I came to realize that guests and pilots meeting is the essence of human encounters. As they get along, they exchange social media information and that’s a human relationship that’s born out of these encounters.

When I first visited the café, many customers were Japanese because it was in the middle of COVID-19. Nowadays, there are many foreign tourists that visit the café. There are times when there’s a line outside before it opens. Pilots talk to the customers in English and prepare conversation topics beforehand for the foreign guests. They’re able to attend to guests from all around the world, listen to stories of unfamiliar countries, and take this time as a memory for themselves – all without having to leave their homes. Originally thought to be impossible, these changes with people from around the world and various regions is a dream come true for the pilots.

They’re able to meet people from around the world, without having to physically move anywhere. That type of travel was born here at this café. These meetings aren’t simply exchanges, they are ways of working for people who have difficulty leaving their homes and is possibly a way to address the labor shortage in the tourism industry. It frees the “daily travel of everyday life” from the problem of physical distance. This is something that I thought to be the essence of travel itself.

Exchanges with People You Can’t See, Encounters and a Way of Working

What do the pilots who are working think about all of this? Let’s take a deeper dive with two of the pilots.

Egalitarian Relationship Created By Avatars

The pilots work together through OriHime, an avatar. They’re not able to see each other directly but because of that, there’s no prejudices of age, appearances and disabilities. This builds a natural egalitarian relationship. For example, even if there’s an age gap of a mother and daughter, they won’t notice that and approach each other on a frank and open level.

This feeling is also shared with the guests. As they aren’t able to see the pilots themselves, they aren’t bogged down with any potential prejudices. Ranks and titles no longer have any influence, making them natural and frank exchanges. This might be the true meaning of travel.

Connect With Friend To Expand Your World

Working as a pilot allows those people to interact with other coworkers who have other disabilities and backgrounds. Pilots with severe disabilities manage their schedules to visit the hospital and conserve their energy to work among the limited amount of time they have.

A pilot using a wheelchair told me, “I knew that they had the same disability as me, but I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I’ve been living in such a sheltered world.’” That left an impression on me. I may understand the knowledge and information behind all of this, but working with them, interacting with them as friends, you begin to think about yourself. In addition to working in society, making friends changes people’s perception. Pilots also sometimes meet up in real life as well. One pilot told me, “The goal of traveling starts with meeting my colleagues.”

Working with people means connecting with society, even if it’s for a short period of time. It allows one to make friends and expand their worldview. Meeting people out in the world isn’t just about attending to guests or customers, but it also happens amongst pilots themselves.

Exchanges Promote Internal Changes

Pilots with development impairments told me, “I gave up on the idea of working out in the world, but I developed a more positive attitude as I worked – I regained my confidence because I had so many conversations with guests.”

One pilot said, “I sometimes can’t converse well directly in real life, but with OriHime, I can enjoy calm conversations from home.” He practiced saying, “Nice to meet you” when he first started working because he wasn’t fluent in his speech, but now he’s used to interacting with people due to the many conversations he’s had. Reactions from guests gave him courage and seeing his words communicated properly revived his connection with society.

There are guests who bring in family with the same disability. Some disabilities are difficult to see, but by introducing oneself at the beginning, you can share the happiness that comes from understanding each other. Although it’s not usual to reveal your disability in everyday life, this place allows and accepts you as who you are. This pilot has become used to many different things and feels that he has changed.

These types of exchanges, a give and take between two people are the true essence of the word. Experiencing what it’s like to be yourself, feels like it functions as a safe haven as you live.

New Ways to Work Born from Technologies

Pilots aren’t just limited to this café and can work anywhere where there is OriHime, such as governmental bodies, hospitals or theme parks. They can work in multiple locations in a single day too. They can work at a café in Tokyo or help at an event in Kyoto. After that, they can work at a facility in Niigata as receptionists. Although they can’t physically move their bodies, they can expand their workplace and connections with enough time. This type of work is almost like instant teleportation, made possible by technology. The choice of being able to work without having to physically be there gives people who once gave up on the idea of working a new chance at life and gives them the joy of being able to work.

This way of working isn’t limited to those with disabilities. People get older and they’ll find it harder to move around. Some people get into accidents or get hospitalized, making it difficult for them to go anywhere. That is why what OriHime is doing is the future of living and travel for everyone.

Exchanges through OriHime reinforces the value of human connection. Modern day values efficiency which allows us to experience and feel the invaluable joy of working and the fortune of meeting new people.

The true essence of meeting new people means to meet the unknown as your true self. This is the origin of travel. Exchanges born from OriHime transcend physical barriers and provide a new way to travel via technology.

In the second half, we will be interviewing Yoshido Ory who developed OriHime to think about the possibilities of travel with this technology.