In a recent issue of the IEEE Proceedings on Quality of Life Technology there was a robot with a humanlike body used for a similar purpose. This seems more practical, and probably much less expensive, for a range of simple tasks.
One of the longest emerging trends in geriatric healthcare is using robots. In the 90's, many realized that a Ferby (that hamster-like robot toy), could be a good companion to those who were unable to care for pets. Robotics enabled assisted living in already used in in Japan and Europe.
Ferby, I haven't seen one of those in a while. Once when we were driving from Olso to Stockholm we stopped at a McDonalds in the countryside. The toy in the Happy Meal was a mini Ferby. The main problem with it was that it answered back in Swedish.
Thanks for reporting on this. Toyota also has created another series of robots that help patients and healthcare workers, including the Patient Transfer Assist, the Walk Training Assist, the Balance Training Assist, and the Independent Walk Assist: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/11/11/1101.html
Recently, we've shown a lot of humanoid robots on our web site and quite honestly some of them are a little creepy. I like the looks of this robot. No "uncanny valley" here.
Creepy is relative. I can remember bosses being "creeped out" by email when it first came into the workplace. Could we do business without it today?
On a more similar note, realistic animation had several hurdles because of the uncanny valley hypothesis. People just weren't ready to see a "not quite human" reality on screen. Designers have worked around that by using more realistic effects in anthropomorphic characters (notice how Alex the Lion's hair in the movie Madagascar blows in the wind). Human characters still need to look like animation to be accepted in the main stream but it's slowly changing. Video gaming and adult entertainment have used more realistic animation for years. People are getting used to it.
It's interesting that so many over the age of 60 embrace human-like robots (there must be a pun in there somehow). Typically we only expect children to gravitate towards new technology easily.
Charles, I agree. I want a robot to look like a machine, not my next door neighbor. I understand that for some individuals to accept a robot it has to have a warm and pleasing appearance and the Toyota robot is in cusp of providing it. Rethink Robotics' Baxter I believe has achieved the warm pleasing appearance attribute.
Nice development by Toyota. Always a forward looking company. It made me smile - partly because I could imagine having such a helper one day. The "mature citizen" of the future just may have this machine, an automatic floor sweeping robot, maybe even an automatic "closet" that can help them get dressed. It will be a very different world from what our parents experienced.
UK-based Plastic Logic and French company ISORG have created what the pair tout as a first in flexible printed electronics: a large area, conformable, organic image sensor printed on plastic.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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