Robot Maker Builds New Boy

Robot maker builds artificial boy http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Robot-maker-builds-artificial-boy/2007/09/14/1189276950948.html September 14, 2007 - 12:24PM David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there is the robotic Zeno. It cannot speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions. At 43 centimetres tall and 2.7 kilograms, the artificial Zeno is the culmination of five years of work by Hanson and a small group of engineers, designers and programmers at his company, Hanson Robotics. They believe there is an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or social robots. And they were showing off the robot boy at the Wired NextFest technology conference in Los Angeles this week. Unlike clearly artificial robotic toys, Hanson says he envisions Zeno as an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like, patented material Hanson calls frubber. "It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," Hanson beams. "It sees you and recognises your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you." It is no coincidence if the whole concept sounds like a science-fiction movie. Hanson said he was inspired by, and is aiming for, the same sort of realism found in the book Supertoys Last All Summer Long, by Brian Aldiss. Aldiss' story of troubled robot boy David and his quest for the love of his flesh-and-blood parents was the source material for Steven Spielberg's film Artificial Intelligence: AI. He plans to make little Zenos available to consumers within the next three years for $US200 ($A238) to $US300 ($A356