Performer operating a Fembot (via Culture Japan & Tokyo's Robot Restaurant)
It comes as no surprise that robots play a prominent part in the Japanese industry and just about every facet of the culture, but now they’ve moved into Tokyo’s ‘red-light’ district where they work as part of some rather unusual entertainment. Showcased at the newly opened Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo, the 12ft tall ‘fembots’ ‘driven’ and manipulated like a marionette by their human counterparts in a cabaret-like dinner-show.
The robots, as well as the venue, cost $1.25 million US and took 3 years to build (according to the restaurants owners), which feature the upper body of a human female with the torso and legs reminiscent of a Gundam-style robot with wheels housed in the robots feet to move.
The bots movement, arm articulation and facial features are controlled using a pair of joysticks that are mounted on a metal-platform chair where the minimally-clad ‘driver’ sits during the hour-long ‘Fighting Females’ performance. For about $50 US, patrons not only get the hour-long show but are served a bento box meal during intermission after which the show resumes. The show ends with the ‘dancers’ boarding a tiny plane that flies overhead the stage along with fairy-esq dancers battling each-other with ‘light-sabers’ after which the audience is ushered out of the venue. While some patrons were clearly happy with the robotic performance, others weren’t quite sure what to make of it. Several audience members stating "I’m not sure what I just saw in there."
Cabe
