We, robot: the future is here - Science - www.smh.com.au

But the robotic rush in Japan is also being driven by unique societal needs. Confronting a major depopulation problem due to a record low birthrate and its status as the nation with the longest lifespan on Earth, Japanese are fretting about who will staff the factory floors of the world's second-largest economy in the years ahead. Toyota, Japan's biggest car maker, has come up with one answer in moving to create a line of worker robots with human-like hands able to perform multiple sophisticated tasks.