p2pnet - rss feed: Meet Zeno the RoboKind
p2pnet news | Product News:- Does the manikin in on the right look a little beligerent to you?
Maybe that’s a bit harsh. Its name is Zeno and it’s a robot designed as a conversationalist, not pugilist.
But the look on his face and raised fists ……
We jest, however.
Zeno is a RoboKind, the world’s “first complete robot” boasting a “fantastic combination of an expressive face, a walking body, vision, speech and hearing,” built by Hanson Robotics.
The promotional site goes on the Frubber surface material, “enables our robots to reflect human emotions through true, lifelike skin” and its “character engine” software enables robots and virtual characters to, “act with humanlike grace previously only exhibited in high-end film animation”.
Hanson creations can, “see people and understand speech, which allows the characters to simulate motives, will and emotions,” says the site.
Says the announcement:
Our first incarnation is Zeno - a character robot that will walk and talk with kids and see them, all wirelessly controlled by a PC. Enlivened by Hanson’s famous conversational artificial intelligence software, Zeno will engage in complete dialogues with kids, see their face, make eye contact, and have his own moods and make his own decisions.
Zeno will be 17” tall, weigh 6 lbs. and run untethered on battery power. The body will walk and balance gracefully, and the face will use Hanson’s Frubber-based skin for best expressivity.
A large part of Zeno’s allure will be the continuing story associated with it. We’ve developed a story set in the year 2027. In the story, Zeno is an intelligent robot child enrolled in an “Inventing Academy”—a school where little robots learn to invent solutions to make the world a better place.
In addition to Zeno, we are available to create new characters for any company that wants to get into the exciting world of character robots.
But Zeno isn’t all the company is offering.
Bio-inspired, humanlike
Hanson is also touting HumanKind robots, “bio-inspired, humanlike robots that, through the process of identity emulation, effectively recreate the physical features, expressions, and vocabulary of unknown personality, living or dead”.
Whoa!
Not only but also, “All of our robots have a cognitive understanding of the English language, can make eye contact with people, recognize faces and capture the attention of their conversation partner by using a full range of human-like facial expressions.”
HumanKind robots come silver, gold and custom editions —- and the latter could be YOU!
“Our state of the art 4-D laser scanning technology takes a precise topographical image of your face, covering every nook, cranny and contour, and then transfers the data into a solid mold,” says the company, adding:
“Apart from the physical attributes the robot, our team of A.I. developers, scientists and robotic designers will build a personality based on your knowledge, memory, thoughts, and speech patterns.
“Bonus: For slightly extra, you can get the HumanKind Traveler Kit, which includes any one of the categories above, PLUS a large foam lined customized pelican case with extra storage compartments.”
Like what? A custom-built George W, maybe (shudder)?
Or a rock-star hand manufactured from the ground up, like Joey Chaos on the right?
But why bother? The Big 4 organised music cartel makes those already.
Or how about Eva, “The best of all worlds?” - says Hanson Robotics, going on:
Eva is a humanlike robot of universal beauty achieved by incorporating a mixture of ethnic characteristics. The face is designed with an idealistic youthful beauty in mind, female but with masculine characteristics (large jaw and cranial area).
The design is intended to be reminiscent of the bust of Nefertiti displayed in the Berlin Altes museum, but otherwise sculpted entirely from Dr Hanson’s imagination.
Meanwhile, you’ll be able to see Zeno in all its glory at the Wired NextFest technology conference in Los Angeles today.
That grinding sound you hear is Isaac Asimov turning over in his grave.
Say no more. But stay tuned.
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September 13th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
If you want your kids to have playmates, just have more kids. Geez.