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Cool Japanese Robot

Meredith

Meredith

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Is there anything they cannot do?

Japanese researchers on Monday showed off a robot that will soon strut her stuff down a Tokyo catwalk. The girlie-faced humanoid with slightly oversized eyes, a tiny nose and a shoulder length hair-do boasts 42 motion motors programmed to mimic the movements of flesh-and-blood fashion models.
"Hello everybody, I am cybernetic human HRP-4C," said the futuristic fashionista, opening her media premiere at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology outside Tokyo.l, the average height of Japanese women aged 19 to 29, but weighs in at a waif-like 43 kilograms (95 pounds) -- including batteries.
She has a manga-inspired human face but a silver metallic body.
"If we had made the robot too similar to a real human, it would have been uncanny," said one of the inventors, humanoid research leader Shuji Kajita.
"We have deliberately leaned toward an anime style."
Click to expand...


http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.44a97a809485fd7d7e11839fef31a365.21&show_article=1


She looks like a love child between Robo-Cop and a fashion model.
 
Okay, okay, okay, I'll give you guys a couple of hours to get the juvenile blow-up "fully functional" jokes out of your systems, then can we please actually discuss the tech here?
 
I don't think they've progressed that far past ASIMO. They look to me to have remodelled the main body somewhat and put on a more human looking head. Those types of things are done easily and regularly on film sets in Hollywood.
When they make a robot that can break dance, jump around and do handstands I'll certainly agree that they've progressed further in robotics.
 
TerriO said:
Okay, okay, okay, I'll give you guys a couple of hours to get the juvenile blow-up "fully functional" jokes out of your systems, then can we please actually discuss the tech here?
Click to expand...

If and when these folks decide to do something useful with the tech other than manufacturing walking talking blow-up dolls, maybe.

Neutrino said:
I don't think they've progressed that far past ASIMO. They look to me to have remodelled the main body somewhat and put on a more human looking head.
Click to expand...

Exactly. They're just building toys.

You know, these gadgeteers build make-believe people because that's what they want to do - all of the justifications about how consumers might be more "confortable" interacting with Polyethylene Pam than with an ATM are after-the-fact rationalizations.

OTOH, since pornography was one of the driving economic forces behind the success of home video and the Internet I suppose it has its market virtues...
 
Starship Polaris,

What possible good could come out of making a robot that looks like a human? I cannot think of anything good (i.e. ethical) that would come out of this.

CuttingEdge100
 
I can. Robots that could dig through rubble in an earthquake and find survivors? Which would be more jarring to a victim, seeing a metal claw dig through the rubble over you, or seeing even a pseudo-human hand?

Highly dangerous trauma rescue is a prime place.
 
TerriO said:
I can. Robots that could dig through rubble in an earthquake and find survivors? Which would be more jarring to a victim, seeing a metal claw dig through the rubble over you, or seeing even a pseudo-human hand?
Click to expand...

Which would be more jarring, seeing a machine that has actually been designed to be optimal for digging dig through the rubble over you - or dying because instead of that "rescuers" have deployed delicate little devices with abilities that must be constrained by the completely irrelevant mechanical limitations required to fit into a toy human shell?

All of these "the human form is better" rationalizations are silly - it's like talking about finding ways to put feathers on aircraft because if it could be done there would be some "advantage" to it. :lol:

No one has ever come up with a better reason for building fake humans than that it's cool.
 
Starship Polaris said:
TerriO said:
Which would be more jarring to a victim, seeing a metal claw dig through the rubble over you, or seeing even a pseudo-human hand?
Click to expand...

Which would be more jarring, seeing a machine that has actually been designed to be optimal for digging dig through the rubble over you - or dying because instead of that "rescuers" have deployed delicate little devices with abilities that must be constrained by the completely irrelevant mechanical limitations required to fit into a toy human shell?
Click to expand...

Plus, I'd be a hell of a lot more freaked out by seeing something that looked like it should be all fleshy and prone to being torn to ribbons by heavy rubble instead yanking that rubble aside like the machine that it is.
 
The best functions for human-looking robots are social functions. Your bartender will be easier to talk to if it has a face. Secretaries and receptionists will be easier to deal with if they appear human. Practically any job that requires regular superficial social interaction but which could also benefit from automation would benefit from a human-like robot.

But that requires more than just an silicone-covered automoton. You need an advanced chatbot with voice recognition, speech synthesization, fully articulated realistic faces, and synchronized lips. The problem is that you very easily hit th euncanny valley, where the not-quite human robot is far more offputting than a slightly humanoid robot would be.

HRP-4C lies smack-dab in the middle of the uncanny valley. My natural emotional reaction to her face is a simple and concise "kill it with fire". It's like she's an alien space vampire wearing a mask made from the flesh of her victims.

The one to her left, on the other hand, appears to be a very nice guy and I would enjoy chatting with him. He obviously isn't human, but he's close enough without being too close. It wouldn't be much different from talking to a guy wearing a cool-looking non-menacing face-covering helment.
 
TerriO,

I don't think I'd really care. I'd just be happy someone dug me out.


Hyzmarca,

You know, I'm wondering why you'd need a robotic bartender, or a robotic secretary? We have plenty of humans who could do that job now...


CuttingEdge100
 
It is pretty amazing how fluid her movements are for a robot, they've certainly got the movement of a human down, at least enough for robots to be our servants. The next step will be the AI of course, which is the scary part.
 
Gep Malakai said:
Starship Polaris said:
TerriO said:
Which would be more jarring to a victim, seeing a metal claw dig through the rubble over you, or seeing even a pseudo-human hand?
Click to expand...

Which would be more jarring, seeing a machine that has actually been designed to be optimal for digging dig through the rubble over you - or dying because instead of that "rescuers" have deployed delicate little devices with abilities that must be constrained by the completely irrelevant mechanical limitations required to fit into a toy human shell?
Click to expand...

Plus, I'd be a hell of a lot more freaked out by seeing something that looked like it should be all fleshy and prone to being torn to ribbons by heavy rubble instead yanking that rubble aside like the machine that it is.
Click to expand...

Really. Why should we give up any fraction of horsepower or leverage in a life-saving device in order to have it fit inside a human disguise? Again, that's why these things are toys: they will never do anything better than human beings already do except possibly one form or another of entertainment. And that's not trying to "predict the limits of technology" or some such silliness; it's an observation of function.
 
TerriO,

I agree with you this is the Science,and Technology forum People so let us discuss the extraordinary robotics tech that Japan has to offer.

I'm off my soapbox

Buck Rogers
 
CuttingEdge100 said:
TerriO,

I don't think I'd really care. I'd just be happy someone dug me out.


Hyzmarca,

You know, I'm wondering why you'd need a robotic bartender, or a robotic secretary? We have plenty of humans who could do that job now...


CuttingEdge100
Click to expand...

Cost efficiency, the same reason we have automated factories and coin-operated beverage dispensers. You don't need to pay a robot. So, if you get a robot that can do the job just as well as a human can, and which costs significantly less than a human's salary and benefits over the robot's lifetime, then getting the robot would be the wise thing to do.
 
Brent said:
It is pretty amazing how fluid her movements are for a robot, they've certainly got the movement of a human down, at least enough for robots to be our servants. The next step will be the AI of course, which is the scary part.
Click to expand...
Oh My Gawd! you said ''her'' intsead of ''it'':eek: I geuss we know what side of the coming great ''Cylon Wars'' you'll be on!:shifty:
 
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