Kicking it in the uncanny valley

Yeah, we've hit this one before (no, not that way, you dirty bastards), but check out this totally creepy pic of Osaka University's Repliee Q1 bot.

[KooLTemp @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

are there any clips of the robot in motion?

[Huh? @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

So, which one is the bot?

[Guille @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Wow I didn't know that guy from Iron Chef built robots!

[narco @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Man, it's like Small Wonder of the future. I wonder if steam blows out of her ears if she gets angry.

Fishes,
narco.

[s @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Why is he so intently checking out a robot's ass?

[B @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

She wouldn't happen to be a pleasure-bot, would she?

[kffjjffff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

he's probably just looking at the midget inside of the costume

[2mellow @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

http://ed-02.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/lab/development/Humanoid/ReplieeQ1/img/motion_example_jp.mpg

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

So, they put a suit on a crappy robot... not very impressive.

[aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

that guy looks like the guy from iron chef.

[Tyme @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Damn that robot guy is f***in weird lookin...
i dont get whats so cool
he doesnt even look real

[brickballs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

"When a robot looks too much like the real thing, it's creepy,"

yea. the first thing i thought when you guys said you'd hit it before was "hell, i would"
next thought was "oh, thats a robot..."

[P0iNT @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

"Damn that robot guy is f***in weird lookin...
i dont get whats so cool
he doesnt even look real"

Ummm the chick is the one that is the robot lol but I can see where you are coming at he does look a little weird.

[yelohbird @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Adam (#9), RTFA!

"gestured, blinked, spoke, and even appeared to breathe...the little, 'unconscious' movements that give the robot its eerie verisimilitude: the slight flutter of the eyelids, the subtle rising and falling of the chest, the constant, nearly imperceptible shifting so familiar to humans"

What part of that is "crappy"?

Go ahead and tell me that this is just a Honda Asimo in a ladies' suit...I'll LMAO~

[ojor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

that's cool... when the next exact human replica will come

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Oh man, I thought the guy in the black shirt was the robot haha.

Shows how observant I am.

http://untitledi.com/

[Bill W @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

http://ed-02.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/lab/research/Android/DevAndroid/DevAndroid_eng.htm

[Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I was at Expo in Aichi but I did not have the required 3 hour waiting time to see the robots. I was very upset. I did get to visit the mitsui-toshiba pavillion where they scaned our faces and we were featured in a CGI movie. It was pretty cool, my Japanese was perfect!

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Oh holy jesus, the Repilee R1 is nightmare inducing... seriously, I'd freak out if I were in the same room with it--whether it be on or off. Jesus, the movements... the mumbling japanese synth voice.. It's just scary. On the other hand... Repilee Q1 isn't all that impressive, and is nearly as disturbing when set in motion like the R1. Hah, when she waved her arms about, she looked like she was doing the robot, ironically enough. Ironic to the point at which it's just sad.

Kudos to Bill (poster 17) for the videos.

[Max @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

She is HOT!

[johnny envelope @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Wow. That's awesome. What's interesting is that they actually made her look Asian, concerning the many Asian marketing efforts that seem to value whiteness.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000580020914/

http://www.inq7.net/lif/2003/aug/05/lif_2-1.htm

[Hank Cazorp @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Sorry but I don't find this particularly impressive or uncanny. Certainly no more so than your typical Disney anamatronic.

On the other hand, watching a Sony QRIO turn its head to the source of a hand clap or following a ball rolling on the ground is downright spooky.

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/QRIO/videoclip/ram/02-45-QR1010.ram

[Spencer @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

"Internal sensors allow the android to react "naturally." It can block an attempted slap, for example."

The Japanese have created an android resembling a female, and she needs to protect herself from being slapped?

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

#22: I don't think it's the fact that the robot is much more than an animontronic at Epcot Center that got the article mentioned. I think it's the fact that the writer caught that "she" was making breathing motions, fluttering "her" eyelids, etc. that really made him take notice. And the reaction sensors are a big part of this thing.

Integrate the QRIO's hardware and programming into this robot and you've got something that far exceeds Abe Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents.

[Dito @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

the real question is, does she know the proper defense for a double eye poke?

[aabb @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Ah... one step closer to the dream of Chobits. To #21, they only use white girls when marketing to dumb gaijins. Robots like this are not meant for Asian markets; look at the comment on this board to see the typical gaijin reaction.

Soon the Asian societies will integrate robots into their everyday lives, while West remained bogged down by their irrational fear of driods while watching dumb movies like I-Robot. No wonder the US is slowly becoming a technological backwarter.

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

She's not so scary. I wouldn't worry about that little lady just yet...

Wait till version 2.0 comes out, and she starts ording around 'Iron Chef Redux' over there. Telling him to to cut his hair and stop checking out all the other robots a$$es, and why didn't he pick up any oil last night (it was on sale), and when are they gonna take time out and design little version 3.0A because her batteries aren't going to last forever after all and so on and so forth. And when that happens...

GOD HELP US ALL (particularly with financing)!