CB2 Robot Child Makes It To Age 2, Still Looks Like Evil
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Tuesday, 7 of April , 2009 at 4:03 am
I won’t belabor the creepiness of this robot. You know it, I know it, and it obviously knows it… Just look at those eyes. The CB2 (Child-robot with Biomimetic Body), for all its looks, is really a sophisticated little thing. Underneath the silicone skin are almost 200 pressure sensors, and CB2 is able to associate touch with action and emotion, just like a real child. With the aid of a human mommy, CB2 has taught itself to walk, using 51 pneumatic muscles. The basic idea is really to create a robot that mimics the physical and mental learning abilities of a 2 year old child.
The grand vision of the CB2 project will terrify you: “in coming decades, [project leader Minoru] Asada expects science will come up with a “robo species” that has learning abilities somewhere between those of a human and other primate species such as the chimpanzee.” And what are they going to DO with this new robot species? Why, teach them to play soccer of course, with a goal of besting a World Cup team by 2050 (or sooner).
The end of the article at Physorg has some interesting quotes about how robots are perceived in Japan:
“Robots have hearts,” said Kokoro [a subsidiary of Sanrio] planning department manager Yuko Yokota.
“They don’t look human unless we put souls in them.
“When manufacturing a robot, there comes a moment when light flickers in its eyes. That’s when we know our work is done.”
Public opinion in Japan may be more open to robots than in the West, where dark science fiction visions from movies such as “Bladerunner” and “Terminator” have conjured images of robo-soldiers taking over the world.
Thanks to such benign cartoon characters as Astro Boy, “Japanese people have a friendly image towards robots,” said Toshiba’s Yoshimi.
Asada said Japan’s indigenous animistic belief system may also have readied people to accept human-like robots with minds of their own.
“Everything has a mind — the mind of the lamp, the mind of the chair, the soul of the desk,” he said, pointing at objects in his office.
“Therefore the machines should have their mind too. If we proceed in this study, machines may have something like a human mind or ‘robo-mind’,” he said.
It’s a good attitude to have, and it’s something that we here in the states need to work on, which is where robot education comes into play. However, I have to wonder if even the Japanese would be ready to accept CB2 into their hearts… If I saw a flicker of anything in those eyes, I might go after it with an axe.
Comments (1)
Category: Androids, Biorobotics, Research, Uncanny Valley
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Comment by Alexia
Made Wednesday, 8 of April , 2009 at 12:58 pm
Here comes the Cylon!