Osaka, JapanJuly 17, 2025
Coarobo GK is pleased to announce the publication of a co-authored research paper at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO 2025), held in Osaka, Japan, from July 17 to 19, 2025. The conference is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) . The paper presents a cross-institutional study jointly conducted by Coarobo GK, Ritsumeikan University , The University of Osaka , the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) , and other partner institutions, carried out under the JST Moonshot R&D Program . It reports a large-scale public evaluation of fully autonomous cybernetic avatars (CAs) deployed for physical support in daily-life environments.
The study, titled "Public Evaluation on Potential Social Impacts of Fully Autonomous Cybernetic Avatars for Physical Support in Daily-Life Environments: Large-Scale Demonstration and Survey at Avatar Land" , was led by Lotfi El Hafi, President & Founder of Coarobo GK, as the corresponding author, with fellow Coarobo GK members Sebastian Carrera and Gustavo Garcia among the co-authors. It analyzes the responses of 2,285 visitors who engaged with various CAs during Avatar Land , a 19-day public event in Osaka, including a subset of 333 participants who interacted with fully autonomous CAs performing daily object-retrieval tasks.
Avatar Land was a rare opportunity to bring fully autonomous cybernetic avatars out of the laboratory and into direct contact with the general public, at scale and over nearly three weeks. The survey results show genuine interest in robotic physical support for daily life, while highlighting reliability of task execution as the dominant public concern. We are grateful to all collaborators, participants, and visitors who made this evaluation possible.
Additional materials, including videos and survey details, are available on the project website . This work was supported in part by the JST Moonshot R&D Program and JSPS KAKENHI.
Citation
L. El Hafi, K. Onishi, S. Hasegawa, A. Oyama, T. Ishikawa, M. Osada, C. Tornberg, R. Kado, K. Murata, S. Hashimoto, S. Carrera Villalobos, A. Taniguchi, G. A. Garcia Ricardez, Y. Hagiwara, T. Aoki, K. Iwata, T. Horii, Y. Horikawa, T. Miyashita, T. Taniguchi, and H. Ishiguro, โPublic Evaluation on Potential Social Impacts of Fully Autonomous Cybernetic Avatars for Physical Support in Daily-Life Environments: Large-Scale Demonstration and Survey at Avatar Land,โ in Proceedings of 2025 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO 2025), pp. 182-187, Osaka, Japan, Jul. 17, 2025. DOI: 10.1109/ARSO64737.2025.11124957
Abstract
"Cybernetic avatars (CAs) are key components of an avatar-symbiotic society, enabling individuals to overcome physical limitations through virtual agents and robotic assistants. While semi-autonomous CAs intermittently require human teleoperation and supervision, the deployment of fully autonomous CAs remains a challenge. This study evaluates public perception and potential social impacts of fully autonomous CAs for physical support in daily life. To this end, we conducted a large-scale demonstration and survey during Avatar Land, a 19-day public event in Osaka, Japan, where fully autonomous robotic CAs, alongside semi-autonomous CAs, performed daily object retrieval tasks. Specifically, we analyzed responses from 2,285 visitors who engaged with various CAs, including a subset of 333 participants who interacted with fully autonomous CAs and shared their perceptions and concerns through a survey questionnaire. The survey results indicate interest in CAs for physical support in daily life and at work. However, concerns were raised regarding task execution reliability. In contrast, cost and human-like interaction were not dominant concerns."
Related
- IEEE Xplore article
- arXiv preprint
- Project website
- JST Moonshot R&D Program (project page)
- Avatar Land (official website)
- IEEE (official website)
- IEEE Xplore article: https://doi.org/10.1109/ARSO64737.2025.11124957
- arXiv preprint: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.12741
- Project website: https://lotfielhafi.github.io/FACA-Survey/
- JST Moonshot R&D Program (project page): https://www.jst.go.jp/moonshot/en/program/goal1/11_ishiguro.html
- Avatar Land (official website): https://avatar-ss-land.iroobo.jp/
- IEEE (official website): https://www.ieee.org/
