Collecting real-world robot behavior data and visitor feedback in a home- and shop-like environment as part of Miraikan’s “Creating Your Future Lab” program

Our association will jointly conduct the field trial “Experience the Future: Robot Housekeeper” with the Matsuo & Iwasawa Laboratory at the School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, and Miraikan* – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.

The trial will take place from March 18 (Wed) to March 31 (Tue), 2026 at Miraikan in Koto-ku, Tokyo.

This project is part of Miraikan’s experimental program “Creating Your Future Lab.” Through hands-on experiences with a remote-operated housekeeping robot, visitors evaluate the service and share their impressions. Their participation directly supports research and development of service robots that can be truly useful in everyday life.

The trial is conducted within a NEDO survey project titled “Study on the construction of robot motion datasets for learning and verification of applicability to robot foundation models to accelerate general-purpose robot development using AI.

” The development of such robot foundation models is supported by GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge), a national project run by METI and NEDO to strengthen Japan’s capabilities in generative AI.

Background – Towards service robots that work in everyday life

As Japan faces an aging population and a shortage of workers, expectations are growing for service robots that can support everyday tasks such as cleaning and housework. At the same time, home-like environments still remain highly unpredictable for robots, because room layouts and lifestyles differ greatly from person to person.

For robots to work safely and flexibly in such settings, it is crucial to collect both:

• diverse motion data from real environments, and

• feedback on how people feel about the robot’s behavior.

By combining these two kinds of information and using them for learning, robots can gradually become more capable and trustworthy partners in daily life.

We are working on methods that combine teleoperation and machine learning to efficiently collect data in real living environments and use it to improve the intelligence and safety of household robots. This field trial is positioned as part of that broader effort.

About the field trial – Experiencing and evaluating a “robot housekeeping service”

In “Experience the Future: Robot Housekeeper,” we set up a space that recreates the inside of a home, where visitors can experience a housekeeping service performed by a teleoperated robot. Visitors share the same space as the robot and evaluate its performance from the perspective of a potential customer of a housekeeping service.

Participants will experience two main activities:

Activity 1: Judge the housekeeping skills of a teleoperated robot

In a living-room-like space, a remotely operated robot performs household tasks such as cleaning and tidying up. Visitors watch the robot’s behavior and evaluate it from viewpoints such as “How much would this help with my daily chores?” and “Would I want to rely on this in my own home?” (Approx. 25 minutes)

Activity 2: Try a robot housekeeping service app

Assuming a future where robots autonomously handle more household tasks, visitors use a smartphone app to request chores, check progress, and rate the results. We collect feedback on aspects such as clarity of the service UI and the sense of safety and trust when using the service. (Approx. 7 minutes)

The motion data and feedback gathered through this trial will be used in the research and development of robot foundation models that enable robots to operate continuously and reliably in everyday living environments.

*The teleoperated robot used in this experiment is Toyota Motor Corporation’s Human Support Robot (HSR) from its Frontier Research Center.

Event overview

• Title: Experience the Future: Robot Housekeeper

• Dates: March 18 (Wed) – March 31 (Tue), 2026, 10:00–17:00

*Closed on March 24 (Tue)

• Venue: Communication Lobby, 1F, Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Koto-ku, Tokyo)

• Target visitors: Anyone (minors must be accompanied by a guardian for Activity 1)

*Participation requires signing a consent form. For minors, a guardian must sign.

• Participation fee: Free

*Separate admission is required for Miraikan’s permanent exhibitions and Dome Theater.

• How to join:

  • Activity 1: Numbered tickets will be distributed at the venue on the day.

  • Activity 2: Walk-in at the venue.

  • For details, please see Miraikan’s website.

• Organizers:

  • Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

  • AI Robot Association (AIRoA)

  • The University of Tokyo

• Cooperation: Toyota Motor Corporation Frontier Research Center

• Project lead:

  • Tatsuya Matsushima (Project Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo / CTO, AI Robot Association)

*About Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

Miraikan is Japan’s national science museum located in Tokyo’s waterfront area. Through permanent exhibitions, special exhibitions, and hands-on programs such as “Creating Your Future Lab,” it connects cutting-edge science and technology with people’s everyday lives and encourages visitors to think about the future together with researchers and creators.