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 Ishiguro 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.
“I have developed many robots before,” Repliee Q1’s designer, Professor Ishiguro, 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 Ishiguro 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.
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 Ishiguro 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.”
Full story and images
Police chief ‘sorry’ over death”
BBC NEWS | UK | Police chief ‘sorry’ over death
My personal view :
I’m sorry this guy died but after last weeks bombs you don’t do anything to cause suspition, the guy vaults (either jumps or smashes through) the automatic ticket barriers and heads for the platforms,
he then ran down an escalator after being approached by up to 20 plain-clothed police officers and tried to board a train, he apparently refuses to obey police instructions and after running onto a northbound Northern line train,
If all the above is true, what else could the police do?
“Things I’ve Learnt From My Children”
For those with no children this is hysterical.
For those who have children past this age this is hilarious.
For those that have children nearing this age this is not funny.
For those who do not yet have children this is a form of birth control.
“Things I’ve Learnt From My Children”
1. A king-size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 3 bedroom house 4 ins deep.
2. A 3 yr olds voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
3. If you hook a dog lead over a ceiling fan the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 lb boy wearing Batman underwear & a Superman cape. It is strong enough however if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all 4 walls of a large room.
4. When you hear the toilet flush & the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late.
5. Brake fluid mixed with bleach makes smoke, lots of it.
6. A 6yr old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36yr old man says they can only do it in the movies.
7. Certain parts of Lego will pass through the digestive tract of a 4yr old.
8. Playdough & microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
9. Super Glue is forever.
10. No matter how much jelly you put in the swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
11. Pool filters do not like jelly.
12. VCR’s do not eject toasted sandwiches.
13. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
14. Marbles in petrol tanks make lots of noise when driving & are very expensive to remove.
15. You probably do not really want to know what that smell is.
16. Always look in the oven before you turn it on, plastic toys do not like ovens.
17. The average response time for the fire brigade is 20mins.
18. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
19. It will however make the cat dizzy.
20. Cats throw up half their body weight when dizzy.
21. The mind of a 6yr old is a wonderful & amazing thing.
60% of men who read this will try mixing brake fluid & bleach.
Hi Honey I’m Home
Yes i’m back from yet another holiday in Sitges. For those of you who have missed me, you’ll be glad to know that this year there weren’t any drama’s to screw up the holiday, nothing got lost, nothing got broken, no one got ill..(apart from the odd hang over).
I haven’t taken any new photo’s of Sitges this year as after you’ve been to a place two or three times you get bored of photographing things that you photographed last year.
While on holiday i didn’t buy much apart from a large mug and two keyrings, they are both bad taste bears and I bought the “vic(fuckoff)keyring” and the bernie keyring.
I’ll probably be very busy at work for the next few days but i’m sure i’ll find something funny to post.
Blue Witch’s back door
Over at the Blue Witch’s manor,
it looks like someone has been trying to charge her ?170 for nine, small, 6" x
11" "double-glazed panes for her new back door.
A guy & a girl meet at a bar.
A guy & a girl meet at a bar.
They get along so well that they decide to go to the girl’s place.
A few drinks later, the guy takes off his shirt and then washes his hands.
He then takes of his trousers and washes his hands again.
The girl has been watching him and says, “You must be a dentist.”
The guy, surprised, says “Yes….how did you figure that out?”
“Easy,” she replied, “you keep washing your hands.”
One thing led to another and they make love.
After they have done, the girl says, “You must be a good dentist.”
The guy, now with a boosted ego says, “Sure, I’m a good dentist, how did you figure that out?”
And she says
“I Didn’t feel a thing!”
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda
Have any of you seen the TV series called Andromeda created by Gene Roddenberry (the same chap to created startrek)? I’ve watched it on the TV here in the UK and I absolutly love the show so I wanted to buy the Season 1 Collection but it turns out that you can only get the dam thing on region 1 dvd, it really pisses me off when they do that, they bring out a show, show it on all the TV stations but then limit the release on dvd, whats the point?
NHS food ‘needs Oliver treatment’
BBC NEWS | Health | NHS food ‘needs Oliver treatment’
It’s about time they sorted out the food in hospitals, it tastes awful.
It’s all gone quiet
Some of you may have noticed that i’ve not posted anything for a few days, the main cause of this has been:
1) got nothing to post about
2) too dam tired to post
Just watched this Star wars movie can’t wait to see the whole film.
Brain chip reads man’s thoughts
According to the BBC news today:
“A paralysed man in the US has become the first person to benefit from a brain chip that reads his mind.”