Saya To Terrify Japanese Primary School Children
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 9 of March , 2009 at 5:48 am
This robot, called “Saya,” is supposed to start teaching primary school in Japan. All by herself. She can take attendance, speak several languages, display facial expressions, and even get angry, a trait which I’m guessing will come in quite handy. I hope she runs on batteries, ’cause if she can be unplugged, I doubt she’ll last very long in a classroom full of elementary school kids. She might have more success in high school, though, especially if she dresses like she did at Wired’s NextFest:
Aaaaand I’ve just given BotJunkie a new Uncanny Valley tag. But seriously, I wonder if Japanese kids will be creeped out by Saya? Or is Japan just so much more technologically advanced than we are that it’ll be completely normal to them? If Saya does end up being perceived as normal, I’d be curious as to whether she/it qualifies as ‘teacher’ normal, or ‘overhead projector’ normal…
[ Telegraph ] VIA [ Space Daily ]
Comments (1)
Category: Androids, Educational, Uncanny Valley
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Comment by Richard Millwood
Made Tuesday, 10 of March , 2009 at 5:53 am
‘overhead projector’ normal may be an overestimate ‘desk’ normal may be more accurate. As for being creeped out, I hate driving past retail where they’ve used dummies outside to attract custom – it always makes me feel weird.