Both of the industry leaders presented contrasting pictures of the future of robotics at the MEMS & Sensors Forum during SEMICON Taiwan 2025—one philosophical and human-centered, the other industry strategy and supply chain-focused.

Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro, Japan's renowned humanoid robotics expert, spoke about avatars and social implications. Dr. Jwu-Sheng Hu, Executive Vice President, Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), presented a more pragmatic overview of industrial planning and the issues facing robotics development.

The Human-Avatar Symbiotic Society

Dr. Ishiguro emphasized that the most transformative industries are those that continuously reshape society, much like semiconductors have done. His research focuses on avatars—robots or computer-generated agents that act on a person’s intentions. He argued that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated acceptance of remote work, paving the way for wider adoption of avatars.

“Humanoid robots are the ideal interface,” he said, “because our brains are naturally designed to recognize humans.”

Dr. Ishiguro demonstrated his own avatar—a robot duplicate that can communicate in multiple languages, such as Chinese. The avatar's perfect memory and the capability to provide media interviews allow him to extend his presence beyond the limitations of the body.

In expos, he employs over 50 robots to guide visitors, maintaining his belief that avatars will allow people to transcend body and spatial limitations.

He referenced Japan's government-supported Moonshot program, the aim of which by 2050 is to create a world where human beings are beyond physical and mental constraints. Avatars are already being used in a number of industries:

·         Retail & Service: Avatars work in customer service in stores, with remote operators getting paid from continents away.

·         Education: They serve as responsive instructors and enable foreign students to participate in live classes.

·         Healthcare: Physicians in island villages utilize avatars to collaborate with university specialists, transforming village clinics into cutting-edge centers.

·         Business & Government: From insurance advice to political orations, avatars reduce risk while increasing reach.

Avatars are not just tools for Dr. Ishiguro but also a gateway to studying human cognition, emotion, and identity. Avatars open up more opportunities for labor worldwide, making for a more harmonious society.

From Automation to Autonomy

Dr. Hu, however, highlighted the future of robotics from the perspective of industry and engineering. He delineated the evolution from automation, where human operators program every step, to autonomy, where robots plan autonomously to achieve objectives.

He said that robots today can be programmed to make complex, multi-joint motions thanks to AI, but are plagued by overheating and power consumption. "These are challenging problems," he said, "because they open up new avenues for innovation."

Dr. Hu identified two methods of going around the absence of training data from real-world experience:

·         Learning by Demonstration, which entails robots observing humans in order to generalize tasks.

·         Sim2Real, which trains robots in simulated environments with digital twins prior to transferring those capabilities to reality.

The market for service robots, he further stated, will grow at a rate of 23% per year up to 2030, driven by the needs of industries for autonomous systems.

Taiwan's Robotics Strategy

Basing its strength on small- and medium-sized enterprises, Taiwan aims to become the hub of the global robotics value chain. Dr. Hu's vision was a combination of integrating AI with advanced hardware manufacturing.

ITRI has already spun out startups in exoskeleton and robotic skin, and the government of Taiwan recently kick-started a four-year, $20 billion robotics initiative. There will be a new national robotics center, which will coordinate research and commercialization efforts, reinforcing Taiwan's status as a hub for next-generation robotics technologies.

A Shared Vision

Though their methods differed, the two experts came together with one message: robotics is an issue of enhancing human existence. Dr. Ishiguro emphasized avatars used to generate diversity and inclusion, while Dr. Hu underlined that robots can perform the "dirty and dangerous" work that must be avoided by humans.

Together, their visions form an inspiring blueprint for the future of robotics—one where humanoid avatars boost human abilities and autonomous machines strengthen industries.