Clothing store employees may have to compete with a clothes-folding robot

Published October 21, 2022 at 6:30 AM EDT

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Teenagers working at the Gap could have competition soon - a clothes-folding robot. Researchers at UC Berkeley developed this robot that can fold a pair of jeans or other garments. The machine costs $60,000, but it has yet to ask for a raise. And it can fold 30 or 40 items per hour, which, to be sure, is slower than people, even slower than me. But the robot probably enjoys it more.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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