Researchers from Osaka University and the University of Tokyo are exhibiting the new robot, called Alter, at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (the Miraikan) in Tokyo until Aug. 6.
With today’s advanced technology, robots are so well designed they could be mistaken for people at first glance.
But scientists led by Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University and
Takashi Ikegami of the University of Tokyo are working to raise robotics
to a new level by developing one that, despite having a very mechanical
appearance, moves as if it has a life of its own.
The researchers are exhibiting the new robot, called Alter, at the
National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo
until Saturday.
At a demonstration last Friday at Miraikan, Alter sported a
gender-neutral face and arms covered in silicone skin. The rest of its
body was left uncovered, with most of its mechanical parts in plain
view.
Other robots developed by Ishiguro and showcased at Miraikan include
the androids Kodomoroid and Otonaroid, which resemble a real child and
adult (kodomo and otona are the Japanese words for child and adult). Both were designed to speak like humans and modeled on actual human forms.
But unlike its predecessors, Alter was designed to minimize the
appearance aspect and convey life merely by movement, Ishiguro said.
“Previous androids were made to look and feel as close to real human
beings as possible by copying humans’ appearance and the way they
speak,” said Ishiguro, who famously developed an android in his own
image.
“But even though it has a very mechanical appearance and doesn’t say
anything, Alter makes you think as if it were living,” he said.
At the demonstration, Alter smoothly moved its body and arms as if it
had a will of its own. It is connected to several sensors to monitor
its surroundings, including distance from observers and the room
brightness, so it can alter its movement patterns as if recognizing the
environment.
When a group of reporters entered a dark exhibition room where
tranquil ambient music was playing, Alter started to swing its arms and
body to and fro, as if it were pleased to see so many people.
Occasionally, it would lean its body toward them and move its mouth, as
if trying to say something.
“With this robot, I want to show that an android does not have to be
in the shape of human beings to make something look human,” Ishiguro
said.
The researchers will gauge visitors’ reactions to make Alter’s
movements more like a living organism. They will hold a panel discussion
Saturday to discuss their findings from the exhibition.
Although Alter isn’t providing immediate benefits to humanity,
Ishiguro said it will help researchers get closer to answering a
philosophical question: How do people distinguish the inanimate from the
animate?
“Even if an object is not composed of proteins like a human body,
people may still be able to perceive it as a human being,” he said,
adding that technology can be applied to make androids more affable.
The University of Tokyo professor, Ikegami, who has made art for more than 15 years to express artificial life, agrees.
“I believe life resides within the movement of an object, not within substances that constitute it,” he said.
Kohei Ogawa, an Osaka University assistant professor who programmed
Alter’s control system, said: “Alter doesn’t look human, and doesn’t
speak like a human. But it still makes you think like it has life — more
than any other androids we have developed.”
Ogawa noted that it is extremely difficult to have a conversation with an android for 10 minutes.
“But for Alter, people can easily observe its movement for 10 minutes.”
JT
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