In a move straight out of science fiction, the West Japan Railway Company is deploying a giant robot to assist with maintenance and repair work on its railway network starting this month.

This giant robot will be responsible for trimming tree branches along railway lines and initially painting cable trays above the tracks. It is a towering structure, capable of reaching a height of 12 meters, and can handle tools weighing up to 40 kilograms with its robust hands.

While not autonomous, the robot boasts a cutting-edge human-machine interface. Operators, working in climate-controlled comfort, wear VR headsets to see directly from the robot’s perspective. Their head movements guide the robot’s actions, while their own arm movements are mirrored by the machine’s powerful limbs, creating an intuitive, virtual reality-like experience.

Thus, robots perform tasks that are difficult and dangerous for humans, especially those that become more challenging with age. This technology is not seen as a threat to job security in Japan. Instead, it is welcomed, as it allows elderly workers to prune trees and perform other maintenance tasks from the comfort of air-conditioned rooms. This is particularly beneficial in a country facing a labor shortage and a high proportion of elderly citizens.