A Perfect Female Companion: Project Aiko
December 12th, 2008 by Mary Anne Simpson
Aiko - Credit: Project Aiko
(PhysOrg.com) -- Aiko is a humanoid robot with a built in Biometric Artificial Intelligence Neural System (Brain) designed by Le Trung in Canada. Aiko is slightly less than 5-feet high with 32.24-inch bust, 22.44-inch waist and 33.07-inch waist. Aiko which means "love child" is the perfect companion. In fact, lovely Aiko speaks Japanese and English and can respond to annoyances and questions.
She has the ability to identify objects placed before her. She is equipped with a sensor which allows her to signal pain or annoyance. If you squeeze her cheeks or other parts of her anatomy she will tell you, "That hurts or stop touching me."
Video: Aiko at Ontario Science Center: November 22-23, 2008
Aiko has the ability to talk and interact with humans with 13,000 sentence at her disposal. She has can be programmed to recognize intruders and immediately switch to a defense mode. If it is raining outdoors, she will bring you an umbrella. Aiko is a dream girl, but her inventor Le Trung envisions a day when Aiko clones can be used as security in airports and other public places, assistants for house-bound disabled people, the elderly and as office assistants.
Aside from Aiko's lovely appearance, Le Trung's biggest claim to fame is the technology. He combined his innovative 'Brain' technology by programming in C# and Basic which constantly updates. The 'Brain' software controls speech, reading, math, vision, colors, hearing, automation and sensors. She is a work in progress with the best yet to come.
Video: Aiko's Smaller Hand: August 25, 2008
Additionally, the software can control Robot kits like Kondo KHR2 through voice activation, automation and basic recognition. Uniquely, the 'Brain' software is designed to interact with Aiko's environment, process the data, and record it in the internal memory. When the internal memory reaches full capacity, the synthesized data can be transferred into the server data base. The result is an evolving data base that can be shared and used by future Aiko clones.
Le Trung has maxed out his personal funding and credit lines to create Aiko. Project Aiko has made the rounds with the press and public trade shows. The latest interview with a CNN reporter demonstrated the lighter side of Aiko. Aiko demonstrated her sight recognition features by recognizing the difference between a coca cola product and water and distinguishing food. While the public events thus far have been geared to attract public attention, the genius behind the 'Brain' technology and its future is astounding.
The human applications for incorporating Aiko clones to assist sight-impaired and multi-modal impaired humans is almost limitless. Le Trung estimates Aiko clones can be mass-produced for $15,000 to $17,000 USD. At first blush, this amount may seem pricey, until you factor in the cost of a 24/7 human caregiver or security assistant.
For more information about Project Aiko, See: Project Aiko
© 2008 PhysOrg.com
Jun 02, 2009 |
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Physorg.asm should change its spin to Gee Whiz technobabble. No science here.
I wonder what laws there gonna bring in so you cant send one of these things into the office as your replacement when your off "sick"!
Somebody had to say it :^)
@all: I'm still VERY disappointed with the movement on these machines. It's not fluid, it's not quick. Why is there so very little research into biological robots? Developing motor systems that are based on neuromuscular interactions, I mean our muscles are based on a simple I/O system... but the degree of control is way more sensitive. I think we should definitely be putting more money into seeing how to grow muscles, and innervate them.
This will be the end of human kind in approx 70 years, give or take (The Lucy Lou episode anyone? lol)
Still, I want one!
Or, on second thought, maybe not... I would freak out thinking that "her" eye-webcam's would be online somewhere lol.
But that second video with the hand was really impressive! If I understood it correctly, did he actually read the nerve impulses to the hand and replicate the movements? That must be some signal processing! In my guesstimate, som neural net that is trained for that particular person, probably, but I'm just speculating here (I didn't hear too well what he said). But it's not like a bunch of nerve impulses are easily read.
http://www.imdb.c...0805564/
There is no need for laws prohibiting you from sending your robot to work. If you're robot is not good enough to do your job, your boss will fire you for pulling such a stunt. If your robot is good enough at your job to do your work for you, your boss will probably just buy a robot and lay you off. At a cost of 15,000.00 dollars, a robot is a far cheaper employee even factoring in maintenance. Its like the problems we have with illegal immigrants, times 10.
Thats when the economics start to get topsy turvy. When the wealthy can simply buy robots to do the grunt work for their businesses, where does that leave the common man? We have to stay ahead of this trend.
"The French Revolution 2.0"
The only purpose is for deception.
The argument that robots like this make it easier for people to get used to is stupid.
People should just get used to robots.. and treat them as tools only.
As soon as you put a face on it, moronic people start to get attached to an inanimate object, causing all sorts of retarded problems.