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Monday April 6, 2009
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 Hiroshi Ishiguro's over-sized "baby" robot, CB2, has made a lot of progress since we last reported on him...er..it, in 2007. According to a report on Breitbart.tv, the 73-pound, roughly 4-foot-tall robot can now walk with assistance, and navigate its way around a room. It's also very adept at creeping people out by following them with its inky-black eyes. Apparently CB2 has been programmed to record facial emotions, much as a baby would, to help it better respond to human interaction. The Breitbart report also notes that just below its gray, silicon skin are a host of sensors so it can react to all kinds of subtle touches.
The researchers' goal is to have CB2 talking--in a child-like-way--within two years. The rest of report recounts much of what we already know about the rapid pace of robotics development in Japan. There is, however, a bizarre diversion to Kokoro (a subsidiary of Hello Kitty manufacturer Sanrio). The company actually makes some life-size robots of its own, and its planning department manager, Yuko Yokota, spoke to Breitbart. His words really speak for themselves:"Robots have hearts," said Yokota. "They don't look human unless we put souls in them. When manufacturing a robot, there comes a moment when light flickers in its eyes. That's when we know our work is done." Umm, yeah. Remind me never to buy one of those robots.
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April 7, 2009 2:06 PM
UNBELIEVABLE! BAJESUS is an understatement! Yikes! And, the purpose of this is.....
Please, call Robin Williams and ask him to tell these people the movie has already been made!!!
April 7, 2009 4:04 PM
WHAT?? This is 2009, it's about TIME we got robots. Ain't got no flying cars or starships..
April 8, 2009 5:42 PM
Good grief, haven't ANY of these guys ever seen a Terminator movie?!? or "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" or "I, Robot" or "Battlestar Galactica"?!? Doomed. We're DOOMED, I tell you! AAAAUUUGGGHH!!!
@ Anna Miller - Based upon an article I read the other day about adult sized robots, I presume one of the proposed uses would be (ahem) "recreation" by the terminally nerdy who can't get real dates...