Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) stands at the forefront of robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-robot interaction research, distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach that bridges theoretical foundations with real-world applications. With a strong emphasis on making robots socially intelligent and practically useful, NII has established itself as a premier research institution shaping the future of intelligent systems. NII's researchers have made landmark contributions to social robotics and human-robot interaction, pioneering work on multimodal communication—including emotion expression through color, sound, and vibration—and developing the widely adopted SIGVerse cloud-based virtual reality platform, which has become an essential tool for conducting scalable HRI experiments. The platform's evolution from its 2010 origins to a full ROS and Unity-integrated system reflects NII's commitment to providing the global research community with open, accessible infrastructure. The institute has also driven significant advances in language and robotics integration, with survey work and unsupervised spatial concept acquisition systems enabling robots to learn from spoken language in real environments. Complementing this, NII's contributions span multi-robot cooperative systems, deep learning for drone-based disaster monitoring, 3D point cloud segmentation, and wireless sensor network coordination—demonstrating remarkable breadth across both foundational and applied domains. NII's impact is evident in its consistently well-cited publications and active involvement in high-profile initiatives such as the World Robot Summit, where its researchers help define competitive benchmarks for service robotics. The institute's exploration of robot labor economics and risk assessment also positions it as a thoughtful voice in the societal conversation around automation. For prospective students and collaborators, NII offers a uniquely rich environment where cutting-edge AI research meets human-centered design, supported by world-class infrastructure and an engaged international research network.