If you head to Tokyo, you can see some seriously freaky real robots at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. They are Kodomoroid (“child robot”) and Otonaroid (“adult robot”) and they are positioned to introduce you to the world of robots.
I am told that these robots move their realistic lips to a voice-over, and they have all the human “tells”. For example, they blink, twitch, and occasionally sway from side to side. Just think of them as robot newscasters.
Personally, I thought this idea of robot newscasters sounds great, and reminds me of Batman Beyond. Yeah, there is a lot of speculative fiction references that I can make here. In fact, Japanese robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro says that he hopes that “making androids is about exploring what it means to be human”. I can’t help but be reminded of Tyrell from Blade Runner, when he talks about “more human than human”.
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