by
Mark Ollig
Standing
confidently before a group of people, with a warm, friendly smile, she fluidly
moves her arms and hands, signing the words “My name is Aiko Chihara; nice to
meet you.”
Miss
Aiko Chihara is a prototype communications robot (Android), with an amazing
human-like appearance.
This
latest state of-the-art robot was developed by Toshiba Corporation with
cooperation from Osaka University’s aLab, Shonan Institute of Technology, and
Shibaura Institute of Technology.
The
Aiko Chihara Android was demonstrated this month during the Cutting-edge
Information Technology and Electronics Comprehension Exhibition (CEATEC) event
held in Japan.
It
was said this Android’s “inspirational name” means: “She looks beyond the
immediate horizons, and wants world peace.”
With
life-like skin made of silicon, long black hair, moving, blinking eyes, and
human-like hands, the Android also speaks while performing sign language.
Aiko
Chihara was standing at the Toshiba exhibit booth, exchanging verbal greetings
with passers-by, in addition to signing in Japanese.
The
“muscles” used to convey this Android’s human facial expressions, are
controlled via 15 actuators, which are small, individually-operating motors.
The
extremely flexible arm and hand movements are operated using pneumatic pistons,
and accurately replicate dexterous, human-like movements, as I witnessed in the
demonstration video.
The
total number of actuators used as joint muscles to cause movements inside the
Android is 43.
The
Japan Times YouTube video shows Hitoshi Tokuda of Toshiba Corporation,
explaining how the company plans to incorporate technology to give their
Androids “automatic response,” and to deploy them as “conversational friends
with elderly people with dementia tendencies.”
In
2015, Toshiba says the Androids may be put to practical use serving as
receptionists and convention attendants.
It
was suggested an Android in a person’s home could be remotely linked to a
doctor’s office for two-way patient-doctor interaction or “telecounseling.”
At
the office clinic, the doctor’s voice, facial expressions, and arm movements
are scanned and transmitted to the Android in real-time.
The
Android would repeat the doctor’s speech, and emulate any facial expressions,
arm, or hand gestures.
Yes,
my dear readers of science fiction; the human doctor is channeling himself
through the robotic Android.
The
person being counseled would be seen by the doctor using the Androids’ built-in
audio and video-camera – live-streaming them onto the doctor’s display device,
analogous to a Skype call.
Toshiba
currently has a series of Androids undergoing development, and I assume other
languages will be added to their signing and vocal abilities.
It
is envisioned, in the years to come, these types of human-like Androids will
become so life-like, that people will become comfortable around them.
The
“robot revolution” is predicted by 2020, to be a 1.2 trillion yen ($11.2
billion) industry, and is seen as a significant factor for Japan’s economic
recovery.
In
10 years, I look for robotic Androids to be used in social care settings;
assisting and providing companionship for people at home, patients in
hospitals, and providing support in other specialty fields.
Toshiba
is planning to have an advanced “intelligent social robot” completed in time to
be showcased before the world, during the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Robot
is derived from the Czech word “robota,” meaning “compulsory labor.”
Looking
back, the word robot, as we today think of it, was first mentioned in a science
fiction play.
In
1920, Czech writer Karel apek wrote a play called “R.U.R.” meaning “Rossum’s
Universal Robots.”
In
1922, this play was first performed in the United States in New York.
Rossum’s
Universal Robots is the name of the factory where “artificial people” or
automatons, called “robots,” are being built.
Towards
the play’s end, the robot named Radius, who led the successful revolution
against the humans, climbs atop a balcony railing and declares in measured
tones to the other robots in the factory: “Robots of the world! The power of
man has fallen! A new world has arisen: the Rule of the Robots! March!”
Chilling,
isn’t it?
Hopefully,
the advanced robotic Androids that attain self-awareness in the far-distant
future, won’t attempt to take over the planet from the humans living on it.
For
now, I am eager to see how Androids will be operating in the near-future, say
around 2020.
Read
the English-translation text of the play “R.U.R.” on the Project Gutenberg
website at: http://tinyurl.com/pfs32ls.
The
Japan Times uploaded a YouTube video of Aiko Chihara at:
http://tinyurl.com/o64wlbo.
source: YouTube screenshot
