6 HOT Global Trends You Should Invest In Now: AGE OF ROBOTICS (5)

Japan is the world's fastest aging country. Yet the Japanese just shrug their shoulders at all the noise the world makes about how this greying could ruin their way of life.

Why?

Because they are counting on robots to save them.

Japan has the most robots of any country in the world. While robots have been in and out of fashion for a long time the Japanese have been saying the age of robotics was imminent.

It seems the world is now truly on the cusp of a robotic resurgence unlike anything in the past.

As a self-directed investor staying ahead of the game, you should position to profit from this global trend by researching and investing in companies or businesses leading this resurgence.

Four factors driving the global resurgence of robotics are Aging Population, Robotic Surgery, Advanced Manufacturing, and Automation of Services.

1. AGING POPULATION

Imagine two robotic nurses in a nursing home fighting each other to care for an octogenarian hunk. This scenario may seem far-fetched but it's a real possibility in a world where senior citizens will constitute the majority of the populations of some countries by the end of this century.

While most rapidly-aging European nations see immigration as the key solution to a declining indigenous birthrate and shrinking workforce, anti-immigration Japan is developing "humanoid" robots to care for the elderly, entertain crowds, and even be girlfriends.

Anyone who's seen the movie Terminator will probably shudder at having a robot as a "BFF". However, humanoid robots that do more than entertain will become more common in the next few decades, and this will be a boon for leading global manufacturers like SONY, iRobot (IRBT), and Toyota.

2. ROBOTIC SURGERY

From Orthopedics to Neurosurgery "robodocs" are slowly taking over from doctors.

Perhaps the strongest indication of this in the past decade has been the growth of Intuitive Surgical's (ISRG) da Vinci surgical robot. Amid growing concerns about the safety of its robot, the American company claims more than 2,500 of the multimillion dollar machine have been installed in hospitals around the world.

If concerns about robotic surgery can be adequately addressed it could be the biggest driver of robotics in the next decades considering the growing number of the elderly around the world.

Furthermore, tele-medicine and long-distance surgeries could become common, which will significantly increase the adoption of robots in the medical arena.

3. ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Robots have always been at home in manufacturing. For instance, the use of robots in the automobile industry is almost as old as the industry itself.

In the past, industrial robots were delegated one or two roles complimentary to those of workers. However, with advanced manufacturing robots are now taking on multiple roles and in many industries entirely replacing workers.

This is the future of manufacturing: robots advancing the automation of processes and tasks with minimal human intervention or even supervision.

The newer frontiers for industrial robots are war-zones/battlefields and disaster relief (including search-and-rescue) operations.

In March 2011, when disaster struck at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, the world expected hi-tech robots to immediately swing into action. However, the world was shocked to learn that Japan, the land of robots, didn't have a single robot capable of nuclear damage assessment and disaster relief. They had to seek assistance from the U.S. and France.

Since "3-11" Japanese companies have intensified research in disaster relief robots.

There's an interesting cultural dimension to the resurgence of robotics: While the Westerners have focused on the use of robots for military and disaster relief purposes, the Far Easterners have concentrated research in hi-tech "buddy" robots.

In war-zones and on battlefields robots now work alongside soldiers. The world's most battle-hardened robot is iRobot's PackBot. The Americans deployed it in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, to the horror of the Japanese who are so proud of their technological prowess, PackBot was the first robot deployed to the scene of the Fukushima Nuclear accident.

In the next few decades robots could actually replace soldiers, rather than just spy or do reconnaissance. That's a little scary because if soldier robots do battle, humans will be the collateral damage.

4. AUTOMATION OF SERVICES

When the robot cashier, aka the ATM, first came out all it could do was dispense cash and you had to see a cashier for other transactions. Now, in many industrialized countries, you really don't need to go into a banking hall for any transaction, except, perhaps, to complain about the ATM.

The last stand we humans have been making against robots has been in services. However, with the resurgence of robotics, the writing is on the wall for us.

Even the skilled worker is not safe from the kinds of automation coming down the pike.

Our only saving grace is that as robots take over our old jobs, new jobs will emerge. However, these new jobs will require teamwork with robots. In other words, in the near future, you may not get a job unless you can lunch with a robot.

This is the fifth in a series of posts that examine six hot global trends you should invest in now. In the final blog, i examine the hot trend of Frontiers Exploration.