Zeno Brain Child Robot Humanoid

Zeno Brain Child Robot Humanoid http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/humanlike-robot-boy-zeno/weird-science Meet Zeno, a 17 inch, 6 pound robot, the ‘brain child’ designed and created by David Henderson in the in the likeness of Henderson’s own 18 month old son. Zeno is the latest development in lifelike robotics. Zeno can’t walk or talk — yet — but he has capabilities to track people and interact with a considerable range of facial expressions. Zeno at Hanson’s office in Richardson, Texas, Thursday, September 6, 2007.AP Photo - Tony Gutierrez Zeno — the robot — is the result of 5 years of Henderson’s work, along with his group of engineers, designers and programmers at his company Hanson Robotics, that creates robotic companions and social robots. The team brought Zeno for a demonstration to a group of students at the Wired NextFest technology conference on Thursday in Los Angeles. Hanson’s vision for Zeno is to be an interactive learning companion and buddy that can engage in conversation and convey human emotion with a face made from skin-like, patented material he calls ‘frubber’, reports Yahoo News. “It’s a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent.” Hanson beams. “It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you.” AP Photo - Tony Gutierrez David Hanson says his inspiration for Zeno came from the book ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss — the story of a troubled robot boy whose quest for the love of his flesh-and-blood parents was also the storyline that Steven Spielberg’s film ‘Artificial Intelligence: AI’ was based on. Zeno is expected to hit the streets within 3 years at a price range between $200 to $300 US. Hanson currently sells and rents spendy, lifelike robotic heads — an Albert Einstein look-alike, a pirate, and a rocker, complete with spiky hair and sunglasses for tens of thousands of dollars. Hanson says that they can be customized to look like anyone. Even after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund last October, the company has yet to break even. At a recent demonstration, Zeno was barely able stand while connected to a number of PC’s that commanded it to smile, frown, act surprised or wrinkle its nose in anger. Hanson said it could take 15 years before they can construct anything like what we’ve seen in movies. Hanson feels robotics should be about artistic expression, a creative medium akin to sculpting or painting. But convincing people that robots should look like people instead of robots remains a challenge that experts call the ‘uncanny valley’ theory — humans have a positive psychological reaction to robots that look somewhat humanlike, but robots made to look very realistic come off seeming grotesque instead of comforting. “Nobody complains that Bernini’s sculptures are too darn real, right? Or that Norman Rockwell’s paintings are too creepy.” Hanson said. “Well, robots can seem real and be loved too. We’re trying to make a new art medium out of robotics.” AP Photo - Tony Gutierrez Although Zeno was designed to resemble the TV character Astro Boy, his plastic hair and large eyes were modeled after Henderson’s real son Zeno. “So by coincidence they’re both Zeno, and in other ways this robot has become more of a portrait sculpturally of the son, although it’s almost coincidence.” said Hanson, who had previously worked as a character sculptor for The Walt Disney Co. “We didn’t consciously sculpt this robot to look like him. It’s the way things filter through the hands of the artist.” Hanson says one of Zeno’s chief advancements is that its brains aren’t inside the robot, being synched wirelessly to a PC running a version of Massive Software — the same Academy Award-winning code that enabled the amazing battles between humans, orcs and elves in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies. One of Hanson’s creations include Albert Hubo, a realistic robot in the likeness of Albert Einstein that has appeared on magazine covers and even shook hands with President Bush. AP Photo - Tony Gutierrez Hanson has received awards from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in 2005 and ‘best design’ award at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Triennial last year. “If the robots become popular I suppose it will pose an identity crisis for my son.” Hanson said. “But I think that the amount of love that he receives will make him feel like an individual no matter what.” Related stories:Japanese Humanoid Robot - Next Generation Blue Collar WorkerRobot Acts as Wedding MCWounded Troops Rescued by Robot Teddy BearRobots to Have Human Rights NOT Merely FictionWhat Would Happen if Robots Turned Against UsRobotic Cats - Maintenance Free Pets