Japan unveils humanoid robot that laughs and smiles

[Saber Alter]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/1047752/1/.html

OSAKA : Japanese researchers have developed a humanoid robot that can laugh and smile as it mimics a person's facial expressions.

The robot, Geminoid TMF, can move its rubber facial skin to imitate a smile, a laugh showing teeth, and a grim look with furrowed brows, by receiving electric signals from the person it is modelled on.

The researchers demonstrated with a robot made to look exactly like an attractive woman in her 20s with long dark hair. The woman and the robot were dressed in the same clothes - a black skirt and black leather jacket.

The robot smiled and furrowed its brow in almost simultaneous mimicry of the woman, whose face was filmed with a video camera which then provided information on her expressions to the robot through electric signals.

"I felt like I had a twin sister," the woman told reporters afterwards.

The developers said they expected the robot to be eventually used in real-life situations, for example in hospitals.

"We've already got some data showing that the robot gave patients psychological security by nodding and smiling at them, when patients were checked on by doctors," said Satoko Inoue, spokeswoman for Kokoro, one of the two companies involved in the development.

"A new technology always creates some fears and negative opinions," but the researchers wanted to make robots that could express something similar to human emotions, said Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University who led the research.

Copies of the robot are expected to be sold for about 10 million yen (110,000 dollars), mainly to robotics research organisations, Ishiguro said, without giving a timeframe. - AFP

[♦ßlôödÑinjå♦]

Where *this* close to a terminator scenario.

[ATiC3]

 

My jaw just dropped... That looks awesome. I think the probably with humanoids is how they would get the sounds for emotion, because you know... our pitches in sounds change over the years sometimes, so how would they do that with this?

[Dead Phoenix]

  wow it's amazing how far technology has come. I don't think this......machine is ganna help anyone. it's too creepy! They are just asking for the world to end by machines

[Vitamin]

I bet the only thing it can do is simple gestures and sounds. and I also bet it can't beat me in a game of chess.

[jaysteve]

it realy is amazing that robotics have come this far. As far as a real walking talking robot......we still have a ways to go. We are just in the beging stages of making a robot walk (like a human) effectivly let alone some of the more dynamic things we do such as run jump, throw something accuratly (we are the only species on earth that has the brain power to do this) then you have the whole A.I. thing, our brains are much more complicated and intricate then we give them credit for. I still think were at least 100 years away from a convincing huminoid robot

[ADSplay101]

Man, im lookin at this and the only thing that comes to mind is it just tells me its only a matter of time before they make sex dolls out of these things. I bet those neglected men cant wait for that to happen but on a much more serious note it is an amazing advance in technology but all its gonna do is put ppl out of work in the future and make less jobs available for ppl.