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Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

It has been an ultimate long‐term dream in robotics and AI fields to build robotic systems with life‐like appearance, behaviours and intelligence, reflected by many science fiction books and films. This is also an extremely challenging task. This paper introduces our current research efforts to build a multi‐agent system for cooperation and learning of multiple life‐like robots in the RoboCup domain. A behaviour‐based hierarchy is proposed for the Essex Rovers robot football team to achieve intelligent actions in real time, which includes both a neural network‐based color detection algorithm and a fuzzy logic controller. Preliminary results based on legged locomotion experiments of Sony walking robots are presented.

Since the advent of Honda’s ASIMO and Sony’s AIBO, robot fever has broken out in the general public of Japan. However no significant business has yet materialized, except in the pet robot business in the toy industry. On the other hand serious basic research for humanoid robots is going on which may have an impact on the future of robotics. This report describes the current status of Japanese humanoid fever and its reality.

In late 2019, Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, the president and director of research at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL), had decided he would be stepping down from his position soon. Sony CSL, a small blue-sky fundamental research facility funded by Sony, had always operated on the strength of the trust between Sony's CEO and the lab's director. Sony had been hands-off in its management, leaving Kitano to hire, fire, fund, and evaluate the lab's researchers and project portfolio at his own discretion. Now that he was stepping down, however, he worried that Sony CSL could not withstand his departure. Kitano wanted to make a transparent plan for the organization's future before he handed off Sony CSL to his successor. That plan involved three key decisions. First, what should be the optimal structure and governance of Sony CSL? Should it maintain its independence and autonomy, or should it align more closely with Sony's business priorities? Second, how could Sony CSL scale its impact on Sony and society at large, given its small size? Finally, should Sony CSL establish some standard methods of measuring project success and strength of the portfolio? In making these decisions, Kitano wanted to ensure that he preserved the unique culture that had allowed Sony CSL to pursue path-breaking research and innovation.

This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm (EA) for Sony legged robots to learn good walking behaviours with little or no interaction with the designers. Once the learning method is put into place, the module can learn through its interaction with the real world.

An EA for developing locomotion gaits of quadruped walking robots is presented in this paper. It is based on a hybrid approach that changes the probability of genetic operators in respect to the performance of the operator's offspring.

The mutating and combination behaviours of the genetic algorithms allow the process to develop a useful behaviour over time. The resulting gait from this training proved to be a better solution than the non‐interference training for movements over all types of surfaces, pointing to a local optima being discovered in the non‐environmental interference situation.

The behaviour of these algorithms is stochastic so that they may potentially present different solutions in different runs of the same algorithm. The mechanism described here has several features that should be noted. It allows rapid parameterisation of operator probabilities across the range of potential genetic algorithms and operator set. It is tailored to a steady state reproduction scheme. It would not be literally applicable to problems with noisy evaluation functions.

Provides novel application of genetic algorithms to a potentially practical application area.

The purpose of this study is to review recent work in the robotics literature and identify future opportunities for consumer/tourist experience research in human-robot interactions (HRIs).

The paper begins by covering the framework of robotic agent presence and embodiment that are relevant for HRI. Next, the paper identifies future opportunities for hospitality and tourism scholars to undertake consumer/tourist experience research in HRIs.

The result of this study provided potential directions for advancing theoretical, methodological and managerial implications for tourism experience research in HRI.

Concepts from robotics research are diffusing into a range of disciplines, from engineering to social sciences. These advancements open many unique, yet urgent, opportunities for hospitality and tourism research.

This paper illustrates the speed at which robotics research is progressing. Moreover, the concepts reviewed in this research on robotic presence and embodiment are relevant for real-world applications in hospitality and tourism.

Developments in robotics research will transform hospitality and tourism experiences in the future.

This research is one of the early papers in the field to review robotics research and provide innovative directions to broaden the interdisciplinary perspective for future hospitality and tourism research.

This study aims to investigate how early and late adopters of Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) differ in terms of organizational performance.

The authors employed a grounded theory approach for interviewing 15 senior managers from diverse organizational contexts throughout the globe as part of their qualitative research methodology.

The research's findings were analyzed based on four types of performance: operational, financial, environmental and social. It was clear that early adopters of Q4.0 were sustaining superior performance in quality over time, even though their investment was significantly higher than that of late adopters. From a financial viewpoint, it was evident that early adopters had a competitive edge over their rivals compared to late adopters. Late adopters have utilized the notion of the circular economy (CE) more effectively than many early adopters in the context of environmental performance in order to establish a green economy and sustainable development.

Although the results of the interview indicate that Q4.0 is having some positive effects on social performance, in the authors' view, it is still least understood from an empirical standpoint.

The study's findings assist organizations in comprehending the performance differences between Q4.0 early adopters and late adopters.

This study aims to provide an insight into the role of robots in the entertainment industry.

Following a short introduction, this study first considers applications in amusement parks and robotic rides and highlights some current development activities. It then discusses the roles of robots in film making. This is followed by a consideration of the role of humanoid robots and applications in the performing arts and includes details of some recent research. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.

This study shows that robots are used in many sectors of the entertainment industry. These include applications in amusement parks which will expand due to technological innovations; camera control and the creation of special effects in film making; and all manner of existing and emerging applications in the performing arts, including dance, music and opera, where humanoid robots play a key role. Several fully robotic rock bands have been developed and recent research has shown that artificial intelligence techniques can allow robots to compose as well as play music.

This study shows the growing importance of robots in the entertainment industry by providing details of a selection of applications.

This paper aims to trace the technological and commercial developments in robotics over the last 50 years, from 1973, the year in which this journal was founded, to the present day.

Following an introduction, this identifies key robot developments on a decade-by-decade basis and considers research, products, applications and corporate activity and also highlights many of the enabling technologies. Brief conclusions are draw.

The robot industry has changed beyond all recognition during the last half century. Enabled by developments in microelectronics, computing, sensors, imaging technologies, data communication and power sources, today robots satisfy a multitude of applications and play a role in almost every sphere of human activity.

This provides a detailed review of robotic developments during the last 50 years.