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Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people. And the rest of the world is catching up with this "loneliness", with advent of superficial so

Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people. And the rest of the world is catching up with this "loneliness", with advent of superficial social media oversharing. Everyone is increasingly becoming lonely inside. So I think this is a huge opportunity and not a niche product anymore as of 2017, as long as they get it right.

ekianjo 9y ago
> Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people. Any evidence for this very broad claim?
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toyota-hopes-adorable-robot-will-make-japan-less-lonely-180960689/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toyota-hopes-adora... https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/the-anime-girlfriend-experience-gateboxs-ai-powered-holographic-home-robot/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/the-a... http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2017/04/11/love-intimacy-and-companionship-tale-robots-japan http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2017/04/11/love-... https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/29/robot-caregivers-are-saving-the-elderly-from-lives-of-loneliness/ https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/29/robot-caregivers-are-sav...
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    You are aware that most Japanese find this kind of stuff creepy right? By far when given the choice Japanese will go for the human operator/human equivalent if available. We should not mistake Otaku trends for the general Japanese population.
    - vortico 9y ago
      The claim he was proving was "Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people", and he proved it well. You are now arguing against the claim "all Japanese people enjoy this stuff", which is not what he was claiming at all.
- jonathankoren 9y ago
  I think the jury is still out on their success, but it is certainly an area of research. https://www.marketplace.org/2016/01/25/world/robots-or-immigrants https://www.marketplace.org/2016/01/25/world/robots-or-immig... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-robot-girlfriend-life/japan-makes-robot-girlfriend-for-lonely-men-idUST8462420080617 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-robot-girlfriend-li... http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/toyota-robot-baby-kirobo-mini-1.3789450 http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/toyota-robot-baby-kirobo-m...
- lovemenot 9y ago
  Pachinko is everywhere[1]. Especially notable in towns in more remote areas. Also, girlfriend simulator[2]. [1] https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/pix/p/pachinko-parlor.jpg https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/pix/p/pachinko-parlor.jpg [2] http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24614830 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24614830
donw 9y ago
Sadly, this is a result of deeply-rooted parts of Japanese culture. In Japan, you don't just walk up to people and strike up a conversation. Foreigners might, but native Japanese largely don't. To establish some sort of repertoire, you need to share some sort of acceptable social context with that person: went to school together, played on a sports team together, work together, etc. And, given that Japanese companies commonly have working hours that would be classified somewhere between "insane" and "criminally negligent", you don't really have time to socialize with anybody outside of your office. This all goes triple for Tokyo, which has a very cold and sterile personality. Expats tend to glop together into a tight group -- the "foreigner" community in Tokyo is like a small town in and of itself -- but for the natives, the end result is that there are a lot of very lonely people here.
- agibsonccc 9y ago
  I've lived in tokyo for ~1 year now and have been coming here since early 2015, I have to say the tech community isn't that bad. Granted, one person's experience/ancecdata etc, but I've found it easier to associate with locals. Usually going to meetups and the like can help quite a bit. There's quite a bit of social context that tends to stem from that. Like you said, breaking the ice helps a lot. I can imagine it's worse in other industries but tech has by far been the most forgiving.
  - sdrothrock 9y ago
    > Usually going to meetups and the like can help quite a bit. Selection bias -- you meet people who want to go to meetups. Usually those kinds of meetups are quite small, too; I don't know many Japanese people who'd actually like to go to something like that. One weird thing is that I have many online Japanese friends who have absolutely ZERO interest in meeting in real life; the gap between virtual and real can be surprisingly strong here.
    - agibsonccc 9y ago
      Yep, covered that right in my reply. I'm aware I have anecdata, not saying otherwise. I was actually saying tech is a nice bubble, not denying it exists. I know enough that go that I've formed a nice community. Whether meeting IRL or not, it probably depends on the "kind" of friend you're considered. Japanese folks tend to put their friends in groups.
LiweiZ 9y ago
I watched a TV program almost 10 years ago regarding some kind of yellow sea dog like robot and a senior lady's strong attachment to it. It made me a bit sad. And I would reach that age one day...
- peatmoss 9y ago
  > And I would reach that age one day... Look on the bright side, Japanese people often have very long lives. You might not live that long! :-)
pasta 9y ago
Maybe I misunderstand you. But shouldn't be the real opportunity be to bring people back together? Maybe a robot can take some lonely feelings away, but I doubt it will fix loneliness.

ekianjo 9y ago

> Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people. Any evidence for this very broad claim?

LeoPanthera 9y ago
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toyota-hopes-adorable-robot-will-make-japan-less-lonely-180960689/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toyota-hopes-adora... https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/the-anime-girlfriend-experience-gateboxs-ai-powered-holographic-home-robot/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/the-a... http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2017/04/11/love-intimacy-and-companionship-tale-robots-japan http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2017/04/11/love-... https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/29/robot-caregivers-are-saving-the-elderly-from-lives-of-loneliness/ https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/29/robot-caregivers-are-sav...
- ekianjo 9y ago
  You are aware that most Japanese find this kind of stuff creepy right? By far when given the choice Japanese will go for the human operator/human equivalent if available. We should not mistake Otaku trends for the general Japanese population.
  - vortico 9y ago
    The claim he was proving was "Japanese companies know how to build products for lonely people", and he proved it well. You are now arguing against the claim "all Japanese people enjoy this stuff", which is not what he was claiming at all.
jonathankoren 9y ago
I think the jury is still out on their success, but it is certainly an area of research. https://www.marketplace.org/2016/01/25/world/robots-or-immigrants https://www.marketplace.org/2016/01/25/world/robots-or-immig... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-robot-girlfriend-life/japan-makes-robot-girlfriend-for-lonely-men-idUST8462420080617 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-robot-girlfriend-li... http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/toyota-robot-baby-kirobo-mini-1.3789450 http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/toyota-robot-baby-kirobo-m...
lovemenot 9y ago
Pachinko is everywhere[1]. Especially notable in towns in more remote areas. Also, girlfriend simulator[2]. [1] https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/pix/p/pachinko-parlor.jpg https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/pix/p/pachinko-parlor.jpg [2] http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24614830 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24614830

donw 9y ago

Sadly, this is a result of deeply-rooted parts of Japanese culture. In Japan, you don't just walk up to people and strike up a conversation. Foreigners might, but native Japanese largely don't. To establish some sort of repertoire, you need to share some sort of acceptable social context with that person: went to school together, played on a sports team together, work together, etc. And, given that Japanese companies commonly have working hours that would be classified somewhere between "insane" and "criminally negligent", you don't really have time to socialize with anybody outside of your office. This all goes triple for Tokyo, which has a very cold and sterile personality. Expats tend to glop together into a tight group -- the "foreigner" community in Tokyo is like a small town in and of itself -- but for the natives, the end result is that there are a lot of very lonely people here.

agibsonccc 9y ago
I've lived in tokyo for ~1 year now and have been coming here since early 2015, I have to say the tech community isn't that bad. Granted, one person's experience/ancecdata etc, but I've found it easier to associate with locals. Usually going to meetups and the like can help quite a bit. There's quite a bit of social context that tends to stem from that. Like you said, breaking the ice helps a lot. I can imagine it's worse in other industries but tech has by far been the most forgiving.
- sdrothrock 9y ago
  > Usually going to meetups and the like can help quite a bit. Selection bias -- you meet people who want to go to meetups. Usually those kinds of meetups are quite small, too; I don't know many Japanese people who'd actually like to go to something like that. One weird thing is that I have many online Japanese friends who have absolutely ZERO interest in meeting in real life; the gap between virtual and real can be surprisingly strong here.
  - agibsonccc 9y ago
    Yep, covered that right in my reply. I'm aware I have anecdata, not saying otherwise. I was actually saying tech is a nice bubble, not denying it exists. I know enough that go that I've formed a nice community. Whether meeting IRL or not, it probably depends on the "kind" of friend you're considered. Japanese folks tend to put their friends in groups.

LiweiZ 9y ago

I watched a TV program almost 10 years ago regarding some kind of yellow sea dog like robot and a senior lady's strong attachment to it. It made me a bit sad. And I would reach that age one day...

peatmoss 9y ago
> And I would reach that age one day... Look on the bright side, Japanese people often have very long lives. You might not live that long! :-)

pasta 9y ago

Maybe I misunderstand you. But shouldn't be the real opportunity be to bring people back together? Maybe a robot can take some lonely feelings away, but I doubt it will fix loneliness.