Unnervingly human androids coming to a future very near you
The hyper-real robots
that will replace receptionists, pop stars... and even sex dolls: Unnervingly
human androids coming to a future very near you
- Incredibly
life-like robots are currently causing a storm in Japan where they are
being prepared for mass commercialisation
- With new androids
creators have beaten 'Uncanny Valley syndrome' where humans are revulsed
by robots that look real - but not real enough
- Now being put to
use as receptionists and newsreaders
- Predicted that
within a decade fully independent 'gemanoids' will be in circulation once
advances in artificial intelligence are made
- Scientists even
talking about humans taking androids as partners
Chillingly life-like robots are causing a storm in Japan
– where their creators are about to launch them as actresses, full-size
mechanical copies for pop idol fans, and clones of the dearly departed.
There is even talk that the naturalistic, even engaging,
she-droids may be taken up as men as partners in the not-too-distant future.
Android Asuna was a star attraction at Tokyo Designers’
Week showcase earlier this month and she is one of a series of geminoids, as
their inventor dubs them, that are ripe for commercialisation say their creator
robotics professor Hiroshi Ishiguro.
Eerie:
Android engineers have recently been able to overcome the 'Uncanny Valley
syndrome', where androids elicit a response of revulsion because they look
almost, but not quite, human
This
is the news: This robot has been deployed to read the news at a Tokyo museum
Gobsmacked men attending the show told MailOnline that
she was well made, very convincing and had a nice voice. One man joked that
Asuna would make 'a good date; a cheap date!'
From others, covering their mouths in astonishment at
Asuna’s realistic skin and facial expressions, the frequent response from the
public was 'sukoi' which translates as 'amazing' in English.
Asuna is so convincing that many bowed respectfully
before requesting politely to take her photo or join a selfie.
Unable, for now, to use some of the advanced artificial
intelligence (AI), face and voice recognition systems that some Japanese robots
coming on the market now use, Asuna relies on a camera rigged behind her that
is relayed to a remote human controller to give her life.
This so-called tele-presence enables Asuna to come alive,
taking on the operator’s personality.
A fully independent version of the geminoid is expected
in 10 years using all the above technologies to make her virtually
indistinguishable from humans says Mr. Takeshi Mita, CEO of A-Lab in Tokyo, the
company working with Prof. Ishiguro to make Asuna and her kind commercial.
'We already have 20 year's experience making androids in
the lab. So in 10 years we will marry AI and life like geminoids in
perfection,' he told MailOnline.
'We had been focusing on perfecting her skin, facial
expressions, and so on, so for now Asuna is really just a head. Now we are
working on her arms and torso to give very natural, fluid body language.'
Darling:
Asuna was the star attraction at Tokyo Designers’ Week recently where visitors
were floored by her
Future:
A fully independent version of the geminoid is expected in 10 years to make her
virtually indistinguishable from humans depending on developments in artificial
intelligence
Everything about Asuna’s appearance has been
painstakingly honed to make her more life-like.
From the superior quality of her silicon skin to the
secret animatronic muscles that move her eyes and drive her facial expressions.
Previous attempts by Ishiguro's team had been dismissed
as unconvincing and prone to what is known as the 'Uncanny Valley
syndrome'.
This is a term coined by another Japanese professor of
robotics, Masahiro Mori. It describes the response of revulsion and creepiness
when faced with something that looks almost, but somehow not quite,
human.
As robots become as dexterous as Asuna at mimicking
humanity, so the theory goes, the syndrome will erase itself.
Being
loved by a robot?' Levy says. 'It sounds a bit weird, but someday, for many,
many people, being in love with a robot will be just as good as love with a
human
-
Author David Levy
Already Asuna and other androids from A-lab have had a
taste of the limelight, appearing on stage and voicing actors lines using
tele-presence.
Asuna's next performance will be in an opera to prove her
credentials as a singer. An Ishiguro geminoid is also appearing on stage in
Paris now.
'One application we have is to turn her into an
international pop idol,' says Mr. Mita.
Already Japan is in thrall to virtual idols such as
Hatsune Miku, who is basically a hologram that 'sings' words and music created
for her on a computer using 'vocaloid' technology.
Her tunes often outsell those sung by her flesh and blood
musical rivals in Japan.
A-lab also hopes to tap into another big business in
Japan - the popularity of fantasy figurines that appeal to Japan’s legions of
nerdy men or 'otaku'.
Most such dolls are just a few centimetres high and often
represent an idol or a manga character often scantily clad.
Frenzy:
Fembots such as these are causing a storm in Japan at the moment because of
recent breakthroughs in technology that have made them so life-like. However
some work is still to go on artificial intelligence
Have
a nice day: An 'Otonaroid' greets guests to Tokyo’s National Museum of Emerging
Science and Innovation, making unnerving life-like eye contact as she converses
while hooked to a tele-presence system
Take a look at Japan's scarily lifelike robotic newsreaders
As A-lab is working with highly respected Prof. Ishiguro,
Mr. Mita says the company has ruled out producing androids that might be used
for sex.
But a spokesman working with Ishiguro’s lab says it is
not a great leap of imagination to think similar robots, given the advancement
in robotics and silicone skin technology, will be used for sex.
'Physical relations will be possible in general with such
androids,' said Takahashi Komiyama.
'Androids for the sex industry are a definite possibly.
Some have even fallen in love with Ishiguro’s geminoids. So we can't rule those
relationships out.'
Japan already boasts the world’s most advanced sex dolls
from firms such as Kanojotoys or Orient Industries based in
Tokyo.
Around £6,000 buys the very superior Yasuragi 'dutch
wife' sex doll with extras such as movable eyes and flexible fingers and a skin
texture its makers say is indistinguishable from the real thing.
Lady Gaga was so impressed with their quality that she
asked the Japanese firm to make dolls in her own image.
'It is not inconceivable,' said an Orient Industries
spokesman, 'that we will be making android life partners in the near future.'
David Levy, author of Love and Sex With Robots predicts
that as robots become more sophisticated, growing numbers of adventurous humans
will enter into intimate relationships with these intelligent robots.
Speaking at the First International Conference on
Human-Robot Personal Relationships, held last week, he says that AI will
progress to the point where human-robot dating will be commonplace.
'Being loved by a robot?' Levy says. 'It sounds a bit
weird, but someday, for many, many people, being in love with a robot will be
just as good as love with a human.
'Real-life loved ones can also be reproduced faithfully
by cloning them to comfort the bereaved', Mr Mita pointed out.
These
completely unnerving baby-like telenoids are designed to show the minimum
required human-like expressions and are most popular at the museum because they
straddle the creepy/acceptable barrier
The making of Gagadoll. Creepy life size 'listening station'
Sexbot:
Hyper-real sex dolls are already on sale in Japan. Experts say it won't be long
before android versions of them will be manufactured
Androids can now also take on a variety of human jobs
such as receptionist and even news readers.
To prove the point two fem-bots from Ishiguro’s stable
have been working in those posts since June this year at Tokyo’s National
Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.
The more mature 'Otonaroid' greets guests to the museum,
making terrifying life-like eye contact as she converses while hooked to a
tele-presence system that the public can also play with.
'Kodomodroid' (child android) is viewable at the museum
through an art like installation in an all white room where she sits without
rest all day lip-synching the day’s news perfectly from an AI source.
They are joined by the most compelling/repelling android
of them all who incidentally happens to be the most popular among the Ishiguro
droids on show.
The thoroughly unnerving baby-like Telenoid, sports a
simplistic mannequin head with stunted arms and legs that also speaks by proxy
from a control box maned by museum visitors.
Confronted with the rather formal reception-droid,
Japanese housewife Koari IIda says she couldn’t decide if Otanaroid was human
or not.
'If you have talk to her getting closer is a good idea,
so she seems more natural and less creepy close up,' she said. 'But it’s great
fun robo-chatting.'
Asked if she would like Otanaroid at home as a baby
sitter if mum was out. Rika replied: 'No, Mum is my robot!'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2841273/The-hyper-real-robots-replace-receptionists-pop-stars-sex-dolls-Unnervingly-human-androids-coming-future-near-you.html
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