Before too much preamble, just watch.
Its name is Geminoid DK, and it is the most realistic robot ever created. It is the product of Tokyo company based Kokoro, and actually the second model in the series of Geminoid ultra-realistic robots with the first being Geminoid F (F for female and based on a twentysomething model, and possibly the second most realistic robot ever made?).
Geminoid DK represents a series of firsts for its creator, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. DK is the first in the line robots to be based on a non-Japanese person and also the first to sport facial hair. This is all thanks to his inspiration, Associate Professor Henrik Scharfe of Denmark’s Aalborg University (twitter feed) who, in addition to providing his likeness, is also helping to test and setup the robot.
The robot has been undergoing thorough testing at Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute in Tokyo. It is controlled by motion capture and a dizzying array of computers. A subject, in this case Dr. Sharfe whom the robot is modelled after, is outfitted with a myriad of sensors which detect the movements and gestures and the person. This information is then sent to Geminoid DK who through a series of motors mimics the actions.
After the initial testing phase Geminoid DK will be sent to Denmark where it will join Prof. Scharfe in his lab, appropriately named the Geminoid Lab. It will then become his “twin-robot” and through the use of motion capture and a wireless data link, be able to mimic his actions and facial features from across the hall, or even in another building. The technology hopes to investigate the interactions between humans and robots. How do people react to an animatronic version of someone they relate to on a normal basis? Also, this being the first Geminoid robot outside Japan, they are also investigating any possibly cultural differences in human-robot interaction.
It is worth checking out the official site for the project below, simply to view the question and answer portion. “Is the model anatomically correct?”
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