Japan's New Robot Museum Guides Are All Too Human ~ 101feeds

If you’re searching for the uncanny valley, look no further than the work of Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. He has been creating humanoid robots for years, and his latest incarnation — which is so realistic it's scary — will act as robot guides at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Japan (Miraikan).

The museum will welcome three robots, introduced in Japan on Tuesday. There’s the youthful-looking Kodomoroid, the adult female Ontonaroid and the baby-like Telenoid. With the exception of Telenoid, these robots look remarkably lifelike, have eerily expressive faces and are designed, in a limited sense, to move and communicate like real people. The "uncanny valley" theory holds that human recreations in art (computer animation) and science (robotics) that look very near humanlike, but not quite, can actually can induce a feeling of revulsion. Read more...

More about Japan, Robots, Tech, and Dev Design