Whether it’s offices, restaurants, or retail stores, every business is trying to figure out the best way to get back to “business as usual” now that the first wave of coronavirus around the world is starting to subside. In Japan, the FamilyMart chain of convenience stores is trying an approach that’s a little bit different: By replacing some in-store assistants with robots to stack shelves. The social distancing robots are made by the Japanese robotics company Telexistence. According to the company’s website, its humanoid Model H robots boast haptic sensors, stereo cameras, and binaural microphones, alongside a design that looks like a cross between the classic “little green men” alien and a Doctor Who Cyberman with a wheeled lower half for easier mobility. The robots were first unveiled in 2018. This isn’t just another example of robots being used to replace a human workforce, however. Telexistence’s robots are teleoperated by humans who control them via virtual reality headset and haptic gloves. This enables the robot to carry out tasks more effectively, while also having the added benefit that the same store employees who were previously stacking shelves in person will be able to be the ones operating the robots. They will reportedly be working at VR terminals at a separate location. “Telexistence is a concept of using a remote robot as his or her extended being, to release humans from space-time constraints,” the company’s website notes. “It was first proposed by Dr. Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo in 1980. It is an evolutionary form of…robot system where the operator receives sensor information from the remotely located robot and controls the robot to conduct remote tasks.” This isn’t the first innovative telepresence project we’ve covered from Japan. A couple of years ago, Digital Trends wrote about a restaurant staffed by robots controlled by people with disabilities ranging from spinal cord injuries to ALS. The purpose of the project was to help give independence to individuals who otherwise might not have the chance to carry out work like this, including interacting directly with clientele. With the emergence of COVID-19, the goal of this FamilyMart initiative is obviously a bit different — being focused more on socially distancing people than connecting them — but it’s nonetheless an impressive look at one possible application for telepresence robots. According to Time Out Tokyo, the robots are being put through their paces in select FamilyMart locations in Tokyo this summer. The aim is to have them installed in 20 stores by 2022. If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time.  The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55. In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner. The iPad Fold, as it’s being touted, could arrive as soon as next year. A new report suggests that the first folding iPad could be on track to land in 2026.

Whether it’s offices, restaurants, or retail stores, every business is trying to figure out the best way to get back to “business as usual” now that the first wave of coronavirus around the world is starting to subside. In Japan, the FamilyMart chain of convenience stores is trying an approach that’s a little bit different: By replacing some in-store assistants with robots to stack shelves. The social distancing robots are made by the Japanese robotics company Telexistence. According to the company’s website, its humanoid Model H robots boast haptic sensors, stereo cameras, and binaural microphones, alongside a design that looks like a cross between the classic “little green men” alien and a Doctor Who Cyberman with a wheeled lower half for easier mobility. The robots were first unveiled in 2018. This isn’t just another example of robots being used to replace a human workforce, however. Telexistence’s robots are teleoperated by humans who control them via virtual reality headset and haptic gloves. This enables the robot to carry out tasks more effectively, while also having the added benefit that the same store employees who were previously stacking shelves in person will be able to be the ones operating the robots. They will reportedly be working at VR terminals at a separate location. “Telexistence is a concept of using a remote robot as his or her extended being, to release humans from space-time constraints,” the company’s website notes. “It was first proposed by Dr. Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo in 1980. It is an evolutionary form of…robot system where the operator receives sensor information from the remotely located robot and controls the robot to conduct remote tasks.” This isn’t the first innovative telepresence project we’ve covered from Japan. A couple of years ago, Digital Trends wrote about a restaurant staffed by robots controlled by people with disabilities ranging from spinal cord injuries to ALS. The purpose of the project was to help give independence to individuals who otherwise might not have the chance to carry out work like this, including interacting directly with clientele. With the emergence of COVID-19, the goal of this FamilyMart initiative is obviously a bit different — being focused more on socially distancing people than connecting them — but it’s nonetheless an impressive look at one possible application for telepresence robots. According to Time Out Tokyo, the robots are being put through their paces in select FamilyMart locations in Tokyo this summer. The aim is to have them installed in 20 stores by 2022. If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time.  The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55. In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner. The iPad Fold, as it’s being touted, could arrive as soon as next year. A new report suggests that the first folding iPad could be on track to land in 2026.