Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan

**webby** · 08-02-2005, 02:31 PM

Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan

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.

Prototype · 08-02-2005, 08:15 PM

Did anyone get the chills? I did

Subzer03 · 08-02-2005, 10:22 PM

thats scary. i wouldn't want some human-like thing walking around my house at night.

08-02-2005, 02:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
webby Acorns! Join Date: May 2005 Location: Storage Room B Posts: 14,472 iTrader: 12 / 100%	Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan 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.

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08-02-2005, 08:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Prototype Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Goldsboro, NC Age: 23 Posts: 571 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Did anyone get the chills? I did

08-02-2005, 10:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
Subzer03 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: DFW ~ TX Age: 26 Posts: 195 iTrader: 0 / 0%	thats scary. i wouldn't want some human-like thing walking around my house at night.