Scientists reveal a robot newscaster and museum tour guide, which have a human-like appearance and can talk very smoothly as well.
At an exhibition called "Android: What is a Human?" at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who is director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, part of the Department of Systems Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University, Japan, has introduced two robots called Kodomoroid and Otonaroid.
The pair of robots will make an attempt to fill human roles as the world's first android newscaster and as Miraikan's tour guide.
"Otonaroid is a teleoperated android robot resembling an adult female. She has been hired by the Miraikan as a robot science communicator. At the exhibition, you can talk with her and also operate her,"the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation stated.
"Kodomoroid is a teleoperated android robot resembling a human child. It is an android announcer with potential exceeding that of its human equivalent. It can recite news reports gathered from around the world 24 hours a day, every day, in a variety of voices and languages," it added.
Both the robots have silicon skin, artificial muscles and are remotely controlled.
The robots had some glitches like the lips sometimes did not move when they spoke. The Otonaroid robot stayed silent on two occasions when she was asked to introduce herself. However, the researchers say that some glitches were common in these robots "because they are delicate gadgetry sensitive to their environment."
Ishiguro is a well-known figure in robotics. He has also made a robot that looks just like him. Ishiguro sends the robot overseas to give lectures for him. Ishiguro has been working in the field for around 20 years and feels that in the near term, people will use robots more and more in their lives.
Kodomoroid and Otonaroid has been on display at the Miraikan museum since Wednesday, June 25.
