There will come a day when people won't have to spend hours doing their laundry. For the time being, however, tech innovators are busy coming up with ingenious solutions.
Take Shinichi Sakane, a Japanese inventor, for example.
Big-name partners such as Panasonic Corp. have invested 6 billion yen or roughly $53 million to help Sakane further the development of his "Laundroid," a robot that can wash and dry garments, as well as fold and organize clothing according to the user's specifications, according to an article by China Daily.
Once it's finished, the Laundroid, a machine as big as a refrigerator, can render washing machines, dryers, and clothes drawers obsolete in people's homes.
It's unclear how the Laundroid will perform all of its functions as Sakane is not too keen on sharing details of how the robot works. According to patents, however, the basic premise is that users dump clothes in a lower drawer, and the robot will take care of the rest through its robotic arms and sliding plates.
"We tried so many things and none of them worked," said Sakane, who heads the Seven Dreamers Laboratories Inc., in an interview with China Daily.
"A ton of team members quit, saying it's impossible or that I'm crazy. But the ones who remained came up with some truly brilliant ideas."
Sakane drew inspiration from the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrick, with the Laundroid resembling objects in the film that introduced prehistoric humans to technology.
"That's what we had in mind: a technology that never existed on Earth descends from space. If we could automate this, the act of doing laundry will be gone for good."
According to CB Insights, the funding round for the Laundroid is one of the largest for a Japanese tech startup. To date, the total amount of funding received is 7.5 billion yen.
The Laundroid, with all its intended functions, is slated for release in 2019. A prototype than can sort and fold garments, however, will be available for sale in March in markets worldwide.