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Japanese develop 'female' android
BBC News ^
| 07/27/2005
| David Whitehouse
Posted on 07/27/2005 11:51:46 AM PDT by WaveMan
Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1.
She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.
She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe.
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human.
Repliee Q1 is not like any robot you will have seen before, at least outside of science-fiction movies.
She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.
"I have developed many robots before," Repliee Q1's designer, Professor Ishiguru, told the BBC News website, "but I soon realised the importance of its appearance. A human-like appearance gives a robot a strong feeling of presence."
Designed to look human
Before Repliee Q1, Professor Ishiguru developed Repliee R1 which had the appearance of a five-year-old Japanese girl.
Its head could move in nine directions and it could gesture with its arm. Four high-sensitivity tactile sensors were placed under the skin of its left arm that made the android react differently to differing pressures.
The follow-up has the appearance of a Japanese woman. To program her motion, a computer analysed the motions of a human and used them as a template for the way Repliee Q1 moves.
She can be designed to follow the movement of a human wearing motion sensors or to act independently.
"Repliee Q1 can interact with people. It can respond to people touching it. It's very satisfying, although we obviously have a long way to go yet."
Professor Ishiguru believes that it may prove possible to build an android that could pass for a human, if only for a brief period.
"An android could get away with it for a short time, 5-10 seconds. However, if we carefully select the situation, we could extend that, to perhaps 10 minutes," he said.
"More importantly, we have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her. Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: android; butdoesshedodishes; donttelllaz; iwantablond; robot; whotoldlaz; willshecleanhouse; willsheputout; zaq
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To: Army Air Corps; Monkey Face; jbeachgrl5; sharktrager; day10; scott7278; the invisib1e hand; ...
Well, Bender seem very happy with his own fembot...
And she can do more than sit up!
181
posted on
07/27/2005 5:32:58 PM PDT
by
sonofatpatcher2
(Texas, Love & a .45-- What more could you want, campers? };^)
To: WaveMan
182
posted on
07/27/2005 5:34:45 PM PDT
by
Paul_Denton
(Get the U.N. out of the U.S. and U.S. out of the U.N.!)
To: frogjerk
I'm shocked, simply shocked, that no one has picked up on this
We now have a clear technological lead over the Japanese.
Let's celebrate!
183
posted on
07/27/2005 5:35:35 PM PDT
by
Phsstpok
(There are lies, damned lies, statistics and presentation graphics, in descending order of truth)
To: Army Air Corps
184
posted on
07/27/2005 5:35:55 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
To: sonofatpatcher2
I see that Bender has been burning the midnight oil...
185
posted on
07/27/2005 5:36:30 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(Four fried chickens and a coke)
To: Centurion2000
Hahaha I was gonna say the exact same thing..
Is it Chairman Kaga?
186
posted on
07/27/2005 5:39:12 PM PDT
by
eXe
(Si vis pacem, para bellum)
To: rabidralph; Petronski
187
posted on
07/27/2005 5:41:03 PM PDT
by
cyborg
(That's Mrs.Petronski to you thank you very much.)
To: WaveMan; King Prout
188
posted on
07/27/2005 5:44:00 PM PDT
by
mhking
(The world needs a wake up call gentlemen...we're gonna phone it in.)
To: Sensei Ern
How can you trust something that bleeds for a week and doesn't die?
To: frogjerk
190
posted on
07/27/2005 5:44:44 PM PDT
by
July 4th
(A vacant lot cancelled out my vote for Bush.)
To: eXe
Is it Chairman Kaga?"Allez Cuisine!"
191
posted on
07/27/2005 5:44:56 PM PDT
by
mhking
(The world needs a wake up call gentlemen...we're gonna phone it in.)
To: WaveMan
So that's why they were popping champagne corks at the Comp USA tech support desk earlier today!
192
posted on
07/27/2005 5:46:38 PM PDT
by
ovrtaxt
To: mhking
oh, damn- when does season2 premier?
193
posted on
07/27/2005 5:55:00 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
To: Paul_Denton
um... from Jason In Space?
194
posted on
07/27/2005 5:56:06 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
To: ovrtaxt
are you sure those were champaigne corks?
195
posted on
07/27/2005 5:57:47 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
To: King Prout
oh, damn- when does season2 premier?Tonight.
196
posted on
07/27/2005 6:06:30 PM PDT
by
mhking
(The world needs a wake up call gentlemen...we're gonna phone it in.)
To: King Prout
How much for overnight delivery?
197
posted on
07/27/2005 6:08:57 PM PDT
by
TheBigB
(PIU CAMPANACCIO! (Italian for "more cowbell!") :))
To: mhking
CRAP!
WHEN???
(and I'm dying to know who said what on post 118)
198
posted on
07/27/2005 6:10:08 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
To: frogjerk
one way to solve the japanese birth dirth
To: TheBigB
200
posted on
07/27/2005 6:11:07 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
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