Japanese Store Offers a ‘Make Your Own Robot Double’ Deal

Folks who envy Japanese scientist Hiroshi Ishiguro and his robot twin could have nabbed their very own mechanical look-alike at a recent New Year special. Organized by a department store called Sogo & Seibu, this promotional event offered to create and sell a mechanical ‘clone’ of the buyer.

The creators of these artificial duplicates were the famous Japanese firm called Kokoro.

They are also the geniuses behind the Actroid humanoids, a human-like robot that catered mainly to the entertainment / marketing industry.

Regarding this particular doppleganger offer, it was meant as a close enough resemblance of the customer.

Thus, the robot twin would exhibit the same physical attributes, from the details of the body and face right down to the hair and eyelashes.

Furthermore, the ‘clone’ would mimic the owner’s actual expressions and upper body mannerisms.

For an extra touch of realism, the creators were also throwing in pre-recorded bits of the purchaser’s voice as the robot’s speech utterances.

This special offer ran from January 1 to the 3rd and, given that each robot twin was priced at an exorbitant 20.1 million yen ($223,000) , it was hardly surprising that only two robot twins were offered.

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By shinigami on 13-01-2010