China
Mainland China: the developers, the policy cycle, and the residential and commercial markets of the largest cities.
At the World Robot Conference in Beijing last week, Chinese companies showed off robots that could arrange flowers, cross rough terrain for industrial inspections, and even play instruments as a band. But the displays also underscored the gap between exhibition-floor demonstrations and the real-world environments where these machines must eventually work. Tasks that humans find simple — opening a bag of chips or taking out the trash — can take a robot considerably longer. Shenzhen-based X Square Robot is sending its machines into people's homes alongside cleaners to tidy shoes and organise children's toys, but the robots operate entirely outside the company's direct control.