Tokyo-based startup MW is offering homes with built-in robotic housekeeping arms, a counter to a global embrace of humanoids.
MW aims to sell its first robot-equipped home in Tokyo by 2028 and build as many as 10,000 units a year by 2035, the equivalent of 5% of new homes now being built in Japan, according to CEO Shuzo Narita.
Japan helped pioneer bipedal robots decades ago, but MW is taking a different path from the humanoid boom now sweeping China and much of the rest of the world. Instead of trying to build a human-shaped machine capable of navigating obstacles in a lived-in space, the startup is embedding robotics into buildings. It’s betting that specialized machines attached to ceilings and walls can more effectively tackle household chores.