1. "We Are Not AI": The Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β in Nihonbashi, Tokyo
In Nihonbashi, Tokyo, there is an avatar robot cafe called "DAWN ver.β." It opened as a permanent experimental shop in June 2021 [2]. Two types of robots work there: "OriHime," which takes orders and talks at tables, and "OriHime-D," which carries drinks [2]. Both are controlled by people in distant places. These operators are called "pilots." They serve customers from home or other locations because they cannot easily go out due to serious illness, severe disabilities, or childcare [2]. At opening, there were 50 pilots. By July 2023, the number exceeded 60 [1], and the current official site says it is "over 80 people" [3].
Yoshifuji Orii, who created this shop at Ory Lab, shares an experience. When he asked a former service worker to pilot an OriHime, the customer service was so perfect that customers asked, "Are you AI?" or "Is this recorded audio?" [4]. In another interview, he said that if conversation through a robot is "too perfect, it erases the presence of the person inside." He noted that being slightly clumsy feels human and is popular [5].
The serving robot OriHime-D has a system to prevent collisions, but they chose not to use it. People watch nervously, and when the robot passes by smoothly, applause breaks out in the shop [4]. Robots controlled by distant people also exist in convenience stores for stocking shelves, where the task is separated from the human. But in this cafe, the person controlling the robot is the main character of service. What is the purpose of a shop that announces "there is a person behind the robot"? We listen to the creator's story.
2. "I Want a Cushion, Not a High-Tech Wheelchair": What OriHime's Creator, Yoshifuji Kentaro, Noticed
OriHime was created by Yoshifuji Kentaro (known as Orii). He did not go to school from about 5th grade to 2nd year of junior high. Sources say this period lasted about 3 years [6] or about 3 and a half years [7]. Creative origami supported him then, leading to interest in programming and robots, as he told Waseda University [6].
A turning point came in high school with an electric wheelchair. An elderly woman said, "I don't want something high-tech; I want a simple cushion with rollers." He was shocked by this [6]. What makers think is impressive and what users want are not always the same.
Listening to wheelchair users and older people, he noticed many felt "loneliness." He said, "It was like my own feelings when I struggled with school attendance" [6]. Loneliness is explained as "a state where one feels no connection with anyone and believes they have no place in this world" [8].
So, OriHime was made: a robot you can use as your avatar even when far away. It was born in 2010 [9], and Yoshifuji’s lab became a company (Ory Lab) in 2012 [9]. To test it, they gave it to a hospitalized child. The plan was for the child to talk with family at home remotely for one week. But the child said, "I want to use it more," and kept using it until discharge [6].
Yoshifuji says OriHime’s face is not designed to look like a specific person. He explains, "What I wanted to create was 'another self,' not another someone who looks exactly like a human" [8]. Next, we see how this child used it and how schools use it.
3. How a Hospitalized Child Joins the Classroom Through a Robot
The Benesse Children’s Fund has worked since June 2015 to connect hospitalized children with school. An article from July 2018 describes a 6th-grade boy, "A-kun" [11]. A-kun was in a hospital and attended a visiting class at a special support school. He decided to attend his previous school’s graduation ceremony after discharge but worried, "Maybe everyone has forgotten me." His teacher suggested sending OriHime to the old school. A-kun said, "Let's try!" and joined classes from his ward via OriHime [11].
Classmates were initially surprised, asking, "Is it really A-kun?" but settled down during class. During breaks, they took turns talking to A-kun through the robot, asking him to "raise your hand" or "look this way" to play [11]. One child started to speak after school but said, "I’ll talk at school next time," looking forward to meeting in person [11].
Talking during breaks, not just class, is important. Yoshifuji points out that phones and video calls are only used when there is a reason. In school, the "reason" is class; breaks and after-school time have no specific task. He says, "Communication without a specific purpose has value in daily life" [12].
In Ibaraki Prefecture, a trial took place from October to November 2019 at Tomabe Higashi Special Support School. Children in the prefectural children’s hospital ward piloted OriHime to join classroom lessons [13]. A board of education official noted that if only a computer is on the desk, other students might not notice someone is there. With OriHime, moving its head or raising hands makes people feel "someone is there" [14]. However, this is one specific case and part of an interview.
4. "Make Me a Body for That": How a Joke Led to the Robot Cafe
The cafe idea came from a conversation separate from schools. In December 2013, Banda Yuta sent Yoshifuji a message on Facebook while OriHime was being developed. Banda could not move below his neck and operated a computer quickly with his jaw. From summer 2015, he became a contract employee at Ory Lab as "Public Relations and Secretary" [15].
In 2016, Yoshifuji joked, "It’s like I’m Banda’s secretary. Make me some coffee sometimes." Banda replied, "Sure. Then make me a body for that (laugh)." Yoshifuji wrote that he thought, "That’s it!" at that moment [15]. This started the development of OriHime-D, a robot allowing physical work from afar [16].
Yoshifuji explains the idea as "teleworking physical labor." He thought it is hard for someone without work experience to start office work suddenly. Like students growing through part-time jobs, he wanted people to start with physical tasks step by step [5]. Another key is "role." Even if movement is possible via robot, communication does not happen without a role [4].
Banda died in 2017 at age 28, before the cafe opened [15]. The experiments began in November 2018 at Nippon Foundation Building in Akasaka, Tokyo, continued in Otemachi in October 2019, and became permanent in Nihonbashi in June 2021 [9]. In the 2018 experiment, 10 pilots worked for two weeks (10 weekdays). They had conditions like ALS or spinal cord injuries. Some controlled with eye movements, others with hands or jaw using a mouse. Work schedules were adjusted to health [10]. The speed of the robot is about 0.72 km/h (about 0.45 mph), which is 20 cm per second and much slower than an adult walking [10].
5. Where Avatar Robots Work: Classrooms, Cafes, Reception Desks and Observation Decks
Avatar robots work in places other than classrooms and cafes. At the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building’s South Observation Deck (45th floor), Ory Lab uses OriHime under a contract with the Tokyo government. People with severe disabilities who find it hard to go out guide tourists from their homes [17].
They are also used at company receptions. NTT started official full-time use of OriHime-D, controlled remotely by people with disabilities, at its headquarters reception on the 14th floor in Otemachi, Tokyo, on July 1, 2020. Four people worked shifts to guide visitors to meeting rooms [18].
A pilot featured by the Tokyo government says that adjusting work hours and frequency according to health makes it easier to keep working [17]. Yoshifuji thinks loneliness can be solved by overcoming three barriers: "movement," "dialogue," and "role." Avatar robots are tools for this [7]. In classrooms, we see the "dialogue" aspect; in cafes and receptions, the "role" aspect. This is the creator’s view and how this article reads it.
6. When Avatar Robots Do Not Work Well: Notes from Researchers on Schools in Germany and Japan
In a 2024 paper, Spoden from the German-Japanese Institute and Ema from the University of Tokyo studied avatar robots in schools in Germany and Japan through interviews with 19 stakeholders [14]. In Germany, AV1 (from a Norwegian company) was used; in Japan, OriHime.
In Japanese schools, problems included network failures where communication cut out many times. Regarding cost, reports say renting OriHime and a microphone for 3 months costs 136,000 yen [14].
In Germany, the avatar of a child who had not fit in with the class was blocked from view or turned toward walls by other children when teachers were not watching. Also, hospital staff worried that for anxious or depressed children, using robots might strengthen their "I don't want to go" feelings [14]. The paper states that avatar robots are more helpful when class relationships are good [14].
There is also research from the pilots’ side. Interviews with 7 pilots showed that mass-produced robots allow hiding disability if desired, but hide personal identity. When researchers created a unique "look" for each person combined with the robot, individuality came forward [19]. Ory Lab staff were authors of this study.
Pilot evaluations vary too. After the 2018 experiment, 9 of 10 pilots answered a survey. The average score was over 4 on all items (on a scale of 5). However, one person each gave a "2" for "sense of achievement" and "self-realization." The paper says people need to be able to choose their work [10]. The paper suggests the effectiveness of avatar robots may depend on class relationships and understanding by teachers and parents.
7. How to Look Up the OriHime Story Yourself: Why Different Sources Show Different Views
Even with the same OriHime story, the view changes depending on who writes it. Yoshifuji’s interviews and official notes are from the makers and workers. The paper by Spoden and Ema is a report from outside researchers interviewing school staff. Compare them to find which has more about "things that did not go well." The paper is in English but free to read [14].
To hear pilots’ own words, the DAWN official note has interviews where pilots interview each other up to the 10th edition [1].
And one question: If you could work for one day with an avatar robot, and you decided on the "role" first rather than the place, what would you choose?