IT'S NOT ABOUT SEX, SAYS AIKO ROBOT INVENTOR LE TRUNG
By Andrew Ramadge
news.com.au
December 16, 2008
Original LinkAn inventor who made global headlines after creating a life-sized female robot says there's nothing weird going on -- and soon everyone will have one.
Le Trung, 33, has shown off his creation in YouTube videos, showing how she reacts to pain and even slaps him away if he abuses her.
News reports have dubbed Aiko the android the perfect wife, who will never nag. But Mr Le believes the technology could have numerous benefits and says his hobby is no stranger than other people's.
"Some people spend too much time in bars... I just spend my time building robots," said the robotics enthusiast from Toronto, Canada. "I do still go out."
Aiko, a female android made of silicon and electronics, is able to recognise faces and objects, interact with people using knowledge of more than 13,000 phrases in English and Japanese and tell people whether to take an umbrella if it's raining.
If Mr Le's project goes to plan, Aiko will also gather some more unusual skills -- such as cleaning people's ears.
"If I lie my head down on Aiko lap, have her clean my ears with a Q-tip," Mr Le lists as one of his goals on the project's website.
At the moment, Aiko can also read the newspaper, learn the layout of buildings and offer directions to people, feed patients their food or medication and respond angrily if someone tries to hurt her.
But the most controversial feature of Aiko, weighing 32kg and measuring 152cm tall with a bust size of 82cm, has proven to be her anatomically correct body.
Mr Le said he didn't design Aiko for sexual purposes, but it was one possible use of the technology.
"In theory, yes it's capable of that and whether people want to use it like that, it's up to them," he said.
"I designed Aiko to be as human as possible, that's why I designed it like that."
Mr Le said while most people thought lifelike robots were strange at the moment, in the future every household would have one.
"Right now people see robots as if they're just like in the movies," he said.
"So when they see films like I Robot it makes them scared robots might take over the world or cause a lot of job loss.
"My android wasn't designed like that. It was designed to interact with people.
"In the future everybody will have one in their house -- but now people aren't used to it yet."
Aiko has attitude
Mr Le has documented each major step of Aiko's development in YouTube videos and images posted to his website.
In one video, Mr Le demonstrates Aiko's ability to feed patients. The inventor asks the robot to feed him and it responds by grasping a biscuit and aiming for his mouth.
Mr Le then starts bobbing his head from left to right while Aiko's hand follows him.
"Stop moving around," the robot says sternly.
Mr Le continues to weave and duck, before Aiko gives up in frustration.
"Screw this, you can feed yourself," it says.
In another video, taken during Aiko's first public appearance at the Ontario Science Centre last November, Mr Le squeezes the robot's breast.
"I do not like it when you touch my breasts," Aiko says, while swatting the inventor away with her right arm.
Mr Le wrote Aiko's software -- dubbed Biometric Robot Artificial Intelligence Neural System, or BRAINS -- using C# and Basic and hopes to license the system to other robot developers in the future.
The current version of Aiko's body has moving parts at the mouth, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands.
The robot's hands have five movable fingers and can also be controlled by a human wearing sensor pads on the forearm to detect muscle movement.
Mr Le, who has spent more than $CA20,000 ($24,000) on the project so far, hopes to upgrade Aiko to include engines in the body, hips, knee and ankles and to teach it to walk.
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Project Aiko WebsiteAiko YouTube Channel............
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