It can greet people, show DVDs and hand out balloons. “Ubiko”, a robot-on –wheels with a catlike face, is joining the crew of temporary workers supplied by a Japanese job-referral company, Ubiquitous Exchange, to stores, events and even weddings. Next month, the 44-inch tall robot will be selling mobile phones at a store. Ubiko can be hired as a temporary worker for two hours for 105,000 yen, or $890. “We see this as serious business. There are jobs that robots are better at,” Akiko Sakurai said “people do develop a relation with the robot, and it’s lovable.” The $255,000 robot, which is equipped with a camera and sensors, greets customers with a nasal electronic voice, shows DVDs with a projector in its head and hands out balloons and other goods with wireless remote-controllable arms. Ubiko sounds like a Japanese female name, which often ends with “ko”. Tmsuk, the Japanese company that makes the robot, sold three last month to hospital, where they are working as full-time, rather than temporary, receptionists and guides. One of the hospital’s robots serves as a receptionist and has been programmed to greet visitors. It also has a touch-panel(控制板) on its body, and visitors can use it to get directions for where they want to go. “Just give it electricity, and a robot can work for long hours, even do repetitive work, and you don’t have to worry about labor laws,” Sudo said. Japan’s lower birth rate means that in the coming years it could face a labor shortage, and some experts believe robots could be part of the key to that problem. Robots are very popular in Japan partly because of the popularity of cartoons that describe robots as friends and assistants to humans. 小题1:The news report is mainly to _________________.
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