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Forget 3D printing, this robot printer could be the future

Whoever said printers are boring clearly hasn’t laid their eyes on this, a new robotic printer from the folks at Fuji Xerox.

The joint venture between the two tech giants is a sign of the future. The machine is not only capable of printing your all important documents, but delivering them direct to your desk.

Designed for use in public places – think airline business lounges – the robot printer is being tipped as a means of keeping your sensitive documents secure.

In a further bid to aid data security, the printer – having travelled to the user – will require a unique smart card to be scanned before documents are released.

Like existing robot vacuum cleaners, the two-wheeled robot printer plays host to a range of sensors to prevent it from bumping into people or all manner of potentially hazardous obstacles.

Despite its Jetson’s-style futuristic appeal, the Fuji Xerox robot printer has already been branded outdated by industry analysts.

“The majority of these business lounges would have higher printing demand, especially from business travellers who always need to print urgently using a secured method,” IDC analyst Maggie Tan told the BBC.

She added: “There are several mobile printing solutions available today that users can submit the print job online through their mobile devices or laptops and they are given a secured password to collect their printouts.”

Tan’s comments were echoed by fellow IDC analyst Bryan Ma who stated: “It sounds like something very unique to Japan.
“One might even argue that it seems more like technology for technology’s sake.”

With 3D printing a more likely future of the industry, there is currently no word on planned rollout dates or costs for this robot printer.

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