World media swoon over Le Trung’s robo-girl
p2pnet news view | Cool:- The world’s press is gaga over Aiko.
She’s a life-like female robot created by Le Trung, a chemist graduate from York University in Toronto.
British tabloids couldn’t resist it and ran with lurid stories about how he’d built the android because he couldn’t find a girlfriend.
The Canadian Press wasn’t much better.
“Modest inventor shies from sex, hopes his lady robot will be used for good,” says a CP headline.
But sex was never a part of Le Trung’s plans.
“I have been watching Robot anime, since I was a kid,” said Trung, from Brampton, Ontario, on his Project Aiko site, which is for the moment offline.
He goes on, “After watching Chobits and DearS, I have made up my mind that I will make a full human android on August 15 ,2007. All it takes is inspiration. After many struggles, and exactly 1.5 months later I have finished Aiko version 1.0.
“On November 2, 3, 4 2007, Aiko made her first TV interview from Global news, and her first public apperance at the HobbyShow at Toronto International Center, and Ontario Science Center a week later. Aiko is bilingual, she can speak English and Japanese.”
“It is my dream to have Aiko be as human-like as possible,” says Trung. “I’m not sure if it is possible, but there is no way to find out unless I try.”
Le Trung, who’s looking for funding to take his project further, obviously has a sense of humour and on his website, described his future hopes for Aiko like this »»»
- Make tea and coffee
- Feed me sushi
- Make simple breakfast: eggs and bacon
- If I lie my head down on Aiko lap, have her clean my ears with a Q-tip.
- Massage my shoulders and neck.
- Print and write
- Clean the windows
- Dust the shelves
- Clean my toilet. (I hate cleaning the bathroom, might as well have someone else do it for me)
A Wikipedia post says Aiko can recognize speech, voice, faces, motion, and objects.
“Aiko can also solve math problems displayed to it visually,” it states, adding:
“Furthermore, Aiko has access to servers to get weather information worldwide. By using the B.R.A.I.N.S. software (Biometric Robot Artificial Intelligence Neural System) Mr. Le designed, Aiko has the ability to learn simple new information from her surroundings. The android can speak Japanese and English, with 13,000 sentences to respond to questions verbally. Aiko has many sensors in her body and arms to interact with people when being touched.
“Mr. Le has said that he hopes to have Aiko walk one day. In addition, he will also improve the B.R.A.I.N.S. software to make it perform better with the hardware.”
Click here for an update with a sampling of the headlines.
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life-like female robot – Aiko, Le Trung’s robo-girl, December 11, 2008
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December 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Too incompetend to clean his ears, feed himself and too good to lower himself to clean his own poop stall – no wonder guys like him can’t find a maid, sorry, I mean girlfriend/wife.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
^^ I guess you did not read the story
December 12th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Judge not, lest ye be judged
December 12th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I calculate that right now about six people a second are reading this story
December 12th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
funny stuff .. too bad they make him sound like a pervert…
December 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Never stick anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow.
That’s my contribution to this thread and I stand by it.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Kudos to Le for creating this magnificent fembot esp. with limited funds. Aiko & much more advanced & sophisticated others like her to appear in the not too distant future will indubitably create a lot of competition for real females who so often suck as genuine companions. You go girl!
Landru
December 15th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
wow, we all need a robo-mates ourselves. someone who listen and not judge and not argue…..and don’t forget about robo-baby’s and pets (pets and baby’s are already available in toys sections of stores).