Following in the footsteps of Hiroshi Ishiguro’s eerily lifelike creations, Toshiba introduced its very own take on the human-looking droid at Japan’s CEATAC electronics trade show this week. The communication android has been built to communicate in Japanese sign language, requiring fluid and precise movement of its arms and hands.
The result of an in-house ideas program, the android has the look of a young Japanese woman, complete with blinking eyes and a “warm smile.” Its human-like appearance and ability to emulate human expressions come courtesy of work undertaken by aLab Inc. and Osaka University, while the Shibaura Institute of Technology brought driving and sensor technologies to the party. Toshiba used its experience with industrial robots to create a custom algorithm to facilitate the movement of 43 actuators in the robot’s joints.
via Gizmag
