wakamaru
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Mind-reading robotic teachers are more... Anyone? Anyone? Attention-grabbing
You'd have thought that replacing a human teacher with a swanky robot would be enough to keep the kids interested, but apparently not. The University of Wisconsin-Madison found that supplying a robot teacher didn't in itself max out concentration. In one trial, they put a Wakamaru robot instructor in the classroom with only mediocre results. But then they switched it out for a robot that could read students' EEG signals to tell when they were enjoying Matthew Broderick daydreams, and which could then change its intonation or wave its metallic hands in response. That second robot resulted in far better scores when the students were subsequently quizzed about their lessons, proving once again that teaching is about more than preaching.
Wakamaru's latest gig: distraught thespian, clothes rack
After a failed career of house cleaning and guarding your kids, Mitsubishi's Wakamaru was left with a choice: toll booth operator or actress -- she chose the latter, easier option. Osaka University's 20-minute play titled, "I, Worker," focuses on a young couple whose seductive (don't you think?) housekeeping robot has lost her will to work after struggling with the idea of human servitude. The play is expected to go full-length by the year 2010, at which point we expect Wakamaru to extend her brooding to the insatiable lust she feels to violate her programming and enslave humanity. It's not like she can pull off a broad emotional range thanks to that chiseled face of apprehension anyway.
Wakamaru robot to help / freak out UNIQLO SoHo shoppers
Shopping robots aren't totally unheard of from a global perspective, but we certainly haven't seen too many out and about in NY boutiques. Reportedly, that's about to change -- UNIQLO SoHo will soon be home to Mitsubishi's Wakamaru, a humanoid that can look you in the eye, communicate on a very basic level and somehow help you decide between this dress or that other one over there. Word on the street has it arriving sometime next week, so if any of you regulars happen to see it, let us know just how convincing it is / isn't.[Via TokyoMango]
Mitsubishi's Wakamaru bot isn't ready to integrate into society
Things didn't turn out so well for Mitsubishi's cute little Wakamaru house bot, which the company introduced in 2005. Initially expecting to sell 100 of the $14k+ bots, Mitsubishi received only a few dozen orders, and shipped even fewer, since certain customers with multi-story homes or no internet access wouldn't have gotten much mileage out of the yellow robot. Other problems further limited Wakamaru's acceptance in the home, like limited conversational abilities and lack of support for internet content beyond weather forecasts and email. People also expected Wakamaru to take over household duties like sweeping and cooking, and while the bot's heart is in the right place, he's not exactly handy with a broom. For now Mitsubishi is going to rent Wakamaru out to corporations, and is working on expanding arm functionality to allow for the carrying of drinks or newspapers, and to let him open doors. Teach him how to perform petty crime and spew cutesy catch phrases and we're sold. [Warning: subscription required]
PaPeRo : Shibuya girls' favorite robot
While we tend to prefer more aggressive robots, or more sporty robots, most of the 500 Shibuya girls surveyed in the latest issue of Robot Life tend to prefer kawaii (um, cuteness). The champion of the informal 500 person poll was PaPeRo, a short stubby little mini robot that looks like the lovechild of R2D2 and the Fighting Nun puppet. PaPeRro, whom we fell in love with at CeBIT, beat out such competitors as the security guard bot Wakamaru and the ifBot, an elderly-friendly little droid. We still think that PaPeRo should enter the Robo-One in the Space competition, which is totally feasible since it has few years to work it out and get in fighting shape. Click on for the list of today's best robots, as rated by a ton of Japanese ladies.[Via Wired Blogs]
