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Made In Japan

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    Made In Japan





    June 10, 2005—Quick, which one is the robot?


    Repliee Q1 (at left in both pictures) appeared yesterday at the 2005 World Expo in Japan, where she gestured, blinked, spoke, and even appeared to breathe. Shown with co-creator Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University, the android is partially covered in skinlike silicone. Q1 is powered by a nearby air compressor, and has 31 points of articulation in its upper body.

    Internal sensors allow the android to react "naturally." It can block an attempted slap, for example. But it's the little, "unconscious" movements that give the robot its eerie verisimilitude: the slight flutter of the eyelids, the subtle rising and falling of the chest, the constant, nearly imperceptible shifting so familiar to humans.

    Surrounded by machines that draw portraits, swat fast-moving balls, and snake through debris, Q1 is only one of the showstoppers at the expo's Prototype Robot Exposition, which aims to showcase Japan's growing role in the robotics industry.

    But given Q1's reported glitch-related "spasms" at the expo, it may be a while before androids are escorting tour groups or looking after children—which may be just as well. "When a robot looks too much like the real thing, it's creepy," Hiroshi told the Associated Press.

    —Ted Chamberlain
    Last edited by AlfredJPruffock; 25 August 2005, 10:35.

    #2
    Didn't someone post this a while ago? Something about AtW finally getting his leg over?

    Comment


      #3
      Yes that is old news.

      Comment


        #4
        Still...wouldn't say no...
        Autom...Sprow...Canna...Tik banna...Sandwol...But no sera smee

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by WageSlave
          Still...wouldn't say no...
          Better than your usual squeeze then, eh?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Churchill
            Better than your usual squeeze then, eh?
            Never turn down a notch, Spod, never turn down a notch.
            Autom...Sprow...Canna...Tik banna...Sandwol...But no sera smee

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by WageSlave
              Never turn down a notch, Spod, never turn down a notch.
              Who are you insulting, me or spodly?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Churchill
                Didn't someone post this a while ago? Something about AtW finally getting his leg over?

                Yep, it was me.

                The vegetarian option.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Churchill
                  Who are you insulting, me or spodly?
                  Why is it an insult? Two notches are better than one, surely.


                  And you are Spod!
                  Autom...Sprow...Canna...Tik banna...Sandwol...But no sera smee

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by WageSlave
                    Why is it an insult? Two notches are better than one, surely.


                    And you are Spod!
                    Wrong!

                    Comment

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