Next Nature Network: First Job Agency for People and Robots Open to Public

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, September 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

'HUBOT, the job agency for people and robots' opens its doors on the 21st of October in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, at MediaMarkt. The exhibition, disguised as a temporary job agency, is part of the Dutch Design Week (21-29 October). Next Nature Network, Gemeente Eindhoven and Start Foundation teamed up to develop HUBOT. By introducing the visitors to sixteen future professions, HUBOT shows that instead of working against each other, humans and robots can work together for a better future.

Does society look at robots as scary objects competing with us on the labor market, as a technology we can control or even as a new species with whom we can collaborate?

For many people the term 'robotization' awakens negative feelings. A dystopian scenario comes to mind, where robots make human employees largely redundant. This presumes that employers have to face a simple choice: will I use a robot for this job, or a human?

HUBOT encourages visitors to look at technology, and its application, from a different perspective. If we leave the concept of redundancy behind, and realize that humans and robots can work together, a whole world of new possibilities opens up: a world in which jobs are created, not destroyed.

The exhibition draws positive attention to the opportunities that technological advancement can bring to the labor market and the benefits it can provide. HUBOT will interest both people who feel their jobs could be threatened by robots, and those who are currently distanced from the labor market.

16 jobs from the future 

At HUBOT you can discover sixteen future professions in which technology allows humans to perform tasks they wouldn't have been capable of otherwise. Think of a mover wearing a robotic suit. Usually a job for big guys, but thanks to the motorized exoskeleton, someone with a lightweight body or physical disability can lift a washing machine as if it weighs nothing.

Or consider the Shiva physiotherapist. The human touch has a unique therapeutic effect that a machine cannot replicate. That's why the Shiva physiotherapist massages with her own hands. But for the heavy work, she has four additional robotic arms at her disposal. These allow her to work for the entire day and enable her to give incredible six-handed massages. The best massage ever.

HUBOT opens its doors during the Dutch Design Week, on the 21st of October at 10:00. You can visit the exhibition for free at MediaMarkt Eindhoven, Boschdijkunnel 1 (a five minute walk from Eindhoven Central Station) until Sunday October 29, at 18:00. The HUBOT website will go live on October 14.

Attachement: Presskit.

Next Nature Network is an international, future-driven nature organization that positions itself between traditional players such as WWF and Greenpeace. With various design projects, the nonprofit opens the public debate on our future-in which nature and technology are fusing.

Other projects include a speculative restaurant to explore the potential of synthetic meat, a fictional company that offers personalized sneakers crafted from genetically modified stingray leather and a smartphone app allowing you to hear WiFi.

www.nextnature.net