If you have ever wanted to be in two places at once, the answer may be sitting in a Japanese laboratory, muttering, flinching and scowling at passers-by.
Geminoid is a modern variant on an old idea, a humanoid robot designed in his creator’s image, down to the tiniest of details. The skin tone, the spectacles and even the lengthy hairs on its head are the same as Hiroshi Ishiguro’s, a robotics expert at the Osaka University who built his doppelganger as a stand-in for when he is otherwise engaged.
Implanted beneath Geminoid’s skin are 50 sensors and motors that can be controlled by simple movements Ishiguro makes. He can see through its ”eyes”, talk through its internal speaker and shrug or scowl if prodded and poked. Compressed air forced through its body make Geminoid’s chest rise and fall as if breathing.
”At first, you may feel strange about the android,” Ishiguro told Reuters. ”However, once you are drawn into a conversation, you will forget every difference and feel totally comfortable to speak with it and look it in the eyes.”
Ishiguro believes robots like Geminoid will in future allow people to be where they cannot be. Speaking through Geminoid, he says, has become natural, an extension of himself.
The development of humanoid robots has been hampered by what some roboticists call the ”uncanny valley”. This describes a common feeling of revulsion people feel towards a robot that has some human characteristics, but is not yet human-looking enough to make people feel comfortable.
As technology improves to make humanoid robots more lifelike, roboticists expect them to become more acceptable.
The close similarity between Ishiguro and his robotic replica has caused some curious psychological effects, he said. ”When the body of Geminoid is touched by somebody, I get very similar feelings of being touched,” he said.
This week, British roboticists attacked a report commissioned by the government’s chief science adviser, David King, which suggests the robots will one day have rights. The report claimed that advances in artificial intelligence might lead future machines to demand rights and the opportunity to vote. Scientists dismissed the report as poorly founded and a diversion from more pressing concerns, such as autonomous robots being developed and equipped with weapons.
Ishiguro’s previous work has involved developing video systems to analyse human behaviour, a technique that could help identify people who are planning to commit crimes. His team tested a network of cameras on a Kyoto underground station. — Guardian Unlimited Â