May News
The latest robot sensation in Japan is so lifelike that when she stood on the floor of a Tokyo department store recently, she was confused for a human being. “It’s stunning,” Yamamoto says. “I wondered, why on earth all these people were taking a picture of a receptionist. I looked at her carefully and then I realized it was a robot!”
The new humanoid’s name is Aiko Chihira. She is working in customer services and is clad in a traditional silk kimono. She’s 165 cm (5 feet 5 inches) tall and is supposed to be 32 years old and powered by 43 motors. Her movements are finely tuned by a computer which transfers data at 30 times per second. Chihira’s movement such as bowing or blinking look subtle and her silicone body looks more like a well-sculpted wax figure. The female-looking robot, named Aiko Chihira, will only speak Japanese – but she is also capable of sign language.
However, Chihira is unlikely to engage in small talk its makers admit. Instead the robot was created to appear, talk and move as humanly as possible. Chihira blinks, bows and moves its mouth and lips smoothly while speaking. A Toshiba spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that Chihira is programmed with multiple human-like expressions, and that it will offer six-minute guidance to customers with information about the department store including events.
Chihira has appeared at exhibitions and events, but this is the first time it will provide customer service. The robot’s appearance wasn’t modeled on any specific person but was designed to give a friendly impression, according to Toshiba. “The trick of getting a robot to look human is a difficult task for designers,” says Toshiba’s Hitoshi Tokuda. “It was his team’s biggest challenge. Eighty percent humanlike is very scary. So it has to be 90%, or very close to perfect.”
All the interest in Chihira has Toshiba planning to give her some sisters. The birth rate for humans in Japan may be dropping, but robots are on the increase.
Source: The Internet
It is amazing how robots are now made to look so life-like, but there are many aspects of humans which they will never be able to replicate. The Psalmist in the Bible speaks of how wonderfully we have been made by our Creator God.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.- Psalms 139:14 And Ephesians 2:10 says- For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Our praise for how we are made and why we are made should be evident in our understanding, our words and our life. May it all glorify the Creator God as we live each moment of each day.
Related posts
