Orihime robot watches an election in Tokyo's Shinagawa ward
A 20 cm robot called Orihime served as a poll observer in Shinagawa, Tokyo, while its human operator watched from another room with a tablet.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesA robot about 20 centimetres tall has just done a shift as an election observer in Tokyo. The avatar robot Orihime was placed at an early voting site in Shinagawa ward on 10 November, ahead of the ward mayor election, and the person controlling it was not even in the room.
Orihime can move its neck and hands by remote control and talk with people by voice. It has already been used at corporate events and welfare facilities. In this trial, an observer sat in a separate space away from the polling place and steered the robot with a tablet, keeping an eye on how voting went.
One woman who took part said that even though she was looking at a screen, it felt as if she were at the polling station. If observers could do the job from home without going out, she said, it would be quite useful.
Why use a robot as a poll observer?
The main reason is staffing. Shinagawa has 15 early voting sites, the third most among Tokyo's 23 special wards. Counting election day, the ward needs 305 observers in total, and robots could help fill the gaps. The ward also wants residents who find it hard to travel, because of a physical disability or personal circumstances, to be able to take part. Any voter should be able to help check that an election is fair, the ward's thinking goes.
What happens next?
Shinagawa will survey voters about the trial and then decide whether to widen it. It plans to continue testing in stages. Two questions are still open: how to protect the secrecy of the ballot, which Japan's Public Offices Election Act requires, and how an observer could sign the paperwork when attending through a robot. The ward says it will study both to see whether the approach can become an official option.
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