Hirochika Inoue’s pioneering work on robotics capabilities has provided critical components of today’s intelligent robots. In 1970, Dr. Inoue showed that force feedback was the key function for a robot to carry out dexterous manipulation like precise machine assembly. During the 1980s he explored visual guidance of robot motion with the development of a real-time robot vision system that enabled robots to interact with their environment and perform intelligent-like behavior. Applied to early versions of humanoids, this work set the standard for the use of vision in human–robot interaction seen in today’s Japanese robots. During the mid-1990s, Dr. Inoue and his students developed intelligent humanoid robots that not only walked but could also manipulate objects and act under visual guidance.
An IEEE Life member, Dr. Inoue is currently a Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo and advisor with the Digital Human Engineering Research Center at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tokyo, Japan.