Hiroshi Ishiguro, a senior researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Japan, who has created a robot that looks and moves exactly like himself.
Created to fill in for him as professor at Osaka University, this robot twin known as Geminoid HI-1 even has the personal idiosyncrasies of its owner. It sits and fidgets, taps its toes and can sit in a chair and gaze around the room. The shoulders rise slightly as though it were really breathing.
It is so life-like that more than a few shivers creep up the spines of those who watch Geminoid HI-1 in action. Made from silicone casts actually taken from Ishiguro’s own body, Geminoid is powered by pressurized air and small actuators. Its micro-movements run on semi-autonomous motion programs.
Telecommuting has reached new limits as Ishiguro can now send his voice via lip sensors through the Geminoid robot from his home, more than one hour’s ride from the university.
Ishiguro seeks to convey, via the robot, a sense of sonzai-kan, or presence. It is this intangible factor that makes Geminoid HI-1 somewhat eerie.
“The idea is tele-interaction. If I access the android through the Internet, I do not need to go to ATR anymore. I want to check whether students, as well as my family can feel my presence through Geminoid. If I could have one robot at the university, and one at ATR, I would just do all my work from a hot-springs resort,” jokes Ishiguro.
Ishiguro calls his approach of combining engineering and cognitive science for the purpose of performing experiments about human perception, “android science.” He views Geminoid as a vehicle that can be used to learn more about human nature.
How far can this go?
Don’t ask Ishiguro; request an answer from Geminoid HI-1.
Perhaps you won’t even know the difference.
(Link)
pacat
THIS IS TRUELY CREEPY.AS THE SAYING GOES,"THE FUTURE IS NOW".AFTER SEEING THIS,IT MAKES ME WONDER WHAT THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS WILL BRING US. HOPE I AM AROUND TO SEE THE END OF THE STORY
Puchatek w Szortach
It's not quite new either – Prof. Ishiguro had worked on, hmm, himself :P, for quite a few years now.
The official site of the project is http://www.irc.atr.jp/Geminoid/
pacat
THANKS FOR THE INFO.I READ IT AND FOUND IT VERY INTRESTING.IT STILL IS A LITTLR CREEPY. WITH THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY AND CLONES,GLOWING ANIMALS AND EARS GROWNG ON VERMIN,THE FUTURE HOLDS A LOT OF POSSIBLIES.
Anon
So where do I get one? That'll save me going to class.
Just record all he hears and sees.
Ryan
I want one! Then I can finally make out with myself.
leon
What a fantastic effort .This japanese professor is one of the human jewels a real innovator
miss Eva Cameron
If you take out the brain heart lungs stomach and skeleton of a human put them in a metal body fit in grown-up
teeth make it look like a human and power it up could look like a robot feel like a robot but can still think
like a human and have hair like a human I hate loosing my teeth and become the teenage girl of my dreams
my dog molly is going to die in 5 years and I want her to be a robot too
miss Eva Cameron
please post to miss Eva Cameron 47 valley road bude Cornwall 3×23 83r
good99
111111111111111
joe
makes sense, if he only had class a few times a week; office hours could be all week. better yet; give the lecture from home