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.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...0610_robot.html

Wow. That's insanely amazing.
Give it 10 years, this lady may be bringing us the mail!

Amazing.... The "2nd Renessiance" video from the Animatrix comes to mind....

Personally I'd like a world with realistic androids, as long as they didn't kill me

Scary eh. She looks the same, and is wearing the same, as the woman robot they strip and destroy.

I find her to be kind of creepy...I think she is going to give me nightmares!

Actually I find it quite amazing, we are without a doubt living in the future (How does that saying go again?). Anyway it really is quite amazing what we are doing with our technology these days...very impressive.

Need to find a video somewhere. There has to be one...

hmmm

It wont be long, until we wont be able to tell the difference between a robot and a human from just looking at their appearance.

I think I saw her on TV on the discovery channel when they were out in Japan.

Awsome stuff, and creepy..

Aztec, if i wasn't informed she was a robot, i never would have guessed.

Ah! I'm already calling it a 'she'.

This can be both good and bad.

Good: Extra help with pretty much everything; a walking computer can be handy sometimes.

Bad: The name Quagmire comes to mind.

But as long as they dont have twice the strength of humans then I guess I'm fine with it.

maybe we can grow real skin for them soon..

I think we can already 'print' skin.


Edit:

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/1...nk_printer.html

Yeah seeing "her" on video would definitely be nice
I'm hoping that a few years from now I can have one of those to make everything at home but I think I wouldn't feel safe in my bed with that robot anging around, even shutted down it would give me creeps

Being that it's in Japan, I'm pretty sure I can figure where the whole Ultra-Lifelike Robot experiment will end up..

Found 2 videos.

http://roboticnation.blogspot.com/2005/06/...s-in-japan.html

This might be an earlier video of her... There are better robots being developed that have more fluid movement than her... it seems.

Another 5-10 years and we could see major improvements. hopefuly in the A.I aswell as the robotics.

You mean like the simulated 'womans lap'?

Maybe I can add this story to this thread...

Heres another robot in recent news

This one doesnt look quite like a human, but its taking over humans jobs lol.



In an idea straight out of science fiction, robots could soon begin patrolling Japanese offices, shopping malls and banks to keep them safe from intruders. Equipped with a camera and sensors, the "Guardrobo D1," developed by Japanese security firm Sohgo Security Services Co., is designed to patrol along pre-programmed paths and keep an eye out for signs of trouble.

The 109-cm tall robot will alert human guards via radio and by sending camera footage if it detects intruders, fires, or even water leaks.

Such robots are vital from a business standpoint when considering Japan's aging population, Sohgo Security said.

"In the near future, it is certain that securing young and capable manpower will become even more difficult ... and the security industry will feel the full brunt of the impact," the company said in a statement.

Around one in five Japanese are now 65 or over and the proportion is expected to rise to one in three in 2040, according to government data.

Sohgo Security is negotiating with several clients, and after an initial trial run hopes to begin offering a robot-assisted security system within a year, the company said.

Pricing has yet to be decided.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=..._japan_robot_dc

robots shouldnt look like humans

I don't have much problem with robots,I will propably even own one,once the price has gone down,but I definatly have a problem with AIs.They are absolutly unnecessary and can cause more problems than they can solve.

I don't see why they should really need to look or act more human, they are robots! They are made to do our work, they shouldn't need to be able to talk and socialize unless the role we want them to fulfill requires them to do so.

u know if we use androids just as slaves and they start thinking on thier own they'll realise we cant do alot for ourselves or were lazy and they'll start fighting back..


i watch to many movies o.o

Thats why we give them the A.I. to do the work required, nothing more.

I don't know might give a whole new meaning to 'safe sex'. I just wish they would make one that would clean the house. I need a Rosie.

*will take one that looks/acts/sounds just like Data please* XD

I think that they won't have to come up with the idea of rebelling... just let 'em watch few of those early 90s and late 80s hollywood sci-fi movies about Humans vs. Robots, and they'll know what to do .

There goes the whole high priced 'escort' trade.

I agree with those saying robots should not look and act like humans. It is freaky - and uneccesary. Just another excuse for people to not get along with eachother - they won't have to.

news.bbc.co.uk . . .

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1.

She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.

She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe.

Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human.

Repliee Q1 is not like any robot you will have seen before, at least outside of science-fiction movies.

She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.

We have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her

Prof Hiroshi Ishiguru
"I have developed many robots before," Repliee Q1's designer, Professor Ishiguru, told the BBC News website, "but I soon realised the importance of its appearance. A human-like appearance gives a robot a strong feeling of presence."

Designed to look human

Before Repliee Q1, Professor Ishiguru developed Repliee R1 which had the appearance of a five-year-old Japanese girl.

Its head could move in nine directions and it could gesture with its arm. Four high-sensitivity tactile sensors were placed under the skin of its left arm that made the android react differently to differing pressures.


Scientists think that, one day, robots could fool us into believing they were human
The follow-up has the appearance of a Japanese woman. To program her motion, a computer analysed the motions of a human and used them as a template for the way Repliee Q1 moves.

She can be designed to follow the movement of a human wearing motion sensors or to act independently.

"Repliee Q1 can interact with people. It can respond to people touching it. It's very satisfying, although we obviously have a long way to go yet."

Professor Ishiguru believes that it may prove possible to build an android that could pass for a human, if only for a brief period.

"An android could get away with it for a short time, 5-10 seconds. However, if we carefully select the situation, we could extend that, to perhaps 10 minutes," he said.

"More importantly, we have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her. Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."

any pictures?

Old news. There is already a topic about this from a month ago, i'll go ahead and merge it.

what is it with the Japanese and robots?

They love their gadgets. It's their equivolent of whipping it out and comparing sizes. But of course with the japanese they're whipping out cellphones and showing off how cool theirs is.

Instead of working on new technology, they work on advancing and improving old technology. Which is a much better system really.

. . . North Americans are weird



Yes, we do that in Europe too........... I guess the eastern continents are where all the sane people live

People will be using her for more than just that.

It's a figure of speech. No one actually whips it out and compares sizes.

Ah... I'm slightly releaved

Common Talon.
It's a term to describe the act of showing off, being the best.

And besides, i'm not north american.

No, put you live there now

Yup. Not a citizen or anything though.

You not? You on visa?

Pass for human for ten minutes?
Well, I guess that would be the goal...since that's all the longer *it* takes.

Nope. Just a landed immigrant. Still travel with a brit passport.

They just allowing you to stay? Don't they through you out after a while?

A video would be a great thing but I would probably have to go one step further. I would actually like to be able to see and touch it in person. To me it just looks like it could be easily faked with todays technology. I guess that's just the Skeptic in me. But if "She/It" did exist, Huzzah!

hahah no. I have every right any other canadian does, i just can't vote. or work in the government i think. i can work, own a house, whatever.
anyway, back on topic.

okay

that robot is kinda hot j/k lol

thats creepy that it breaths.......

...And once again Japan gives nerds everywhere another reason to never leave the house.

she is cute, can she have sex?

.......I dont know, and dont wanna know

New generation of party dolls for lonesome fellers!

does it leak oil every 28 days???