---
title: "Toyota Used VR to Teach a Home Helper Robot How to Clean"
description: "Toyota, Japanese tech giant, is using virtual reality to teach a home helper robot how to fulfill random tasks around the house."
date: "2019-10-04"
modified: "2019-10-04"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/toyota-vr-teach-home-robot"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "Home robot"
  - "the digest"
  - "toyota"
---

# Toyota Used VR to Teach a Home Helper Robot How to Clean

![Toyota, Japanese tech giant, is using virtual reality to teach a home helper robot how to fulfill random tasks around the house.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/toyota-vr-teach-home-robot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Toyota Research Institute\</em\>*

## Household HAL

Japanese tech giant Toyota's Research Institute (TRI) is [training robots](<https://www.tri.global/news/tri-teaching-robots-to-help-people-in-their-homes-2019-10-3>) to fulfill random household tasks by letting humans look through the bots' eyes via virtual reality.

"When teaching a task, a person can try different approaches, making use of their creativity to use the robot's hands and tools to perform the task," TRI wrote in [a press release](<https://www.tri.global/news/tri-teaching-robots-to-help-people-in-their-homes-2019-10-3>). "This makes leveraging and using different tools easy, allowing humans to quickly transfer their knowledge to the robot for specific situations."

## Virtual Training

Rather than teaching the robot a specific move by feeding it a set of predetermined parameters, the researchers decided to use 3D-scanning technologies and VR to allow human instructors to see what the bot is seeing.

The human can then teach the robot everyday skills, such as picking up a cup, by annotating the scene with simple notes and instructions, according to the [paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.00127>) the researchers recently published on the preprint server *arXiv.*

https://youtu.be/6IGCIjp2bn4

## Mopping 101

TRI's home helper robot does have some limitations. It can't generalize what it has learned and apply similar skills to different situations, for example.

Don't expect the robot to go on sale any time soon, either. [According to TRI](<https://youtu.be/6IGCIjp2bn4>), the bot isn't meant to become a consumer product, but rather serve as a proof-of-concept for future research.

**READ MORE:** [Toyota is using VR to train robots as in-home helpers](<https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/04/toyota-research-institute-robots-vr-training/>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on home robots:** *[Amazon Is Ramping up Its (Still Rather) Secretive Home Robot Project](<https://futurism.com/amazon-secret-home-robot-project>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)