It’s no secret I think that robots, in all their forms, are lame. Yet if all mighty Drudge likes it, then it must be worthwhile. It’s a Japanese baby robot that can roll around, talk baby talk and even walk a little. It’s covered in some silicone substance and, if my memory serves me correctly, looks like the guy in the movie Powder. Here’s a YouTube video. Enjoy?
Baby robot that can walk, talk and feel [Daily Mail via Drudge Report]
I’m 100% with you, Nicholas. These robots aren’t interesting to me at all. . . . I’m sure it’s because I don’t fully grasp the amazing feats being accomplished by these engineers – but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re getting a little ahead of themselves. These things are being displayed as though they’re humanoid cyborgs of the future. . . and they come off more like cheap animatronic characters from Chucky Cheese. In this instance, we have engineers who seem to have said to themselves, “We can’t make a robot talk convincingly yet. . . we’re just starting to get robots to walk upright (but they still suck at stairs and running). . . and artificial intelligence leaves a lot to be desired. . . so hey – let’s make a baby that can’t really do any of those things anyway!” . . . Great.
At least this appropriately depicts the raw infancy of this technology. I’m not sure how close we really want to get to creating human-like robots, anyway. :)