Humanoid robots are being developed all over the world (but especially in Japan) with many purposes in mind, with assistance to the sick and elderly as two of the most important areas. The problem is that sick and elderly people are usually confronted with robots having a cold, emotionless aura. And this is where a new robot called KOBIAN comes in.
KOBIAN, which makers Waseda University in Tokyo and robot venture Tmsuk call an “emotional humanoid robot”, is designed to express a total of seven different emotions: KOBIAN can “cry”, be happy or sad, act surprised and angry, etc. It’s able to walk around and moves his arms and hands, too.
The robot boasts an “expressive face” that is controlled by motors that can make its eyelids, lips and eyebrows move, resulting in a more human-like “behavior”. It’s not able to move around autonomously yet, but the makers aim at further improving KOBIAN to make it available for usage in nursing homes and hospitals.
I just hope they design it to be less creepy, too. Watch the video to see what I mean.
Via Robot Watch [JP]