5 weird robots that can creep you out
Robotics is seen as the future of humanity, but with all the new and mind-boggling innovations, one would argue that the machines have become creepy, at some level. They walk around on two legs, sometimes even look like a real human being. Going by a recent report from IEEE Spectrum, there are plenty of robots that can creep you out. Here, we list some.
Telenoid from Osaka University, Japan
Developed by the researchers at Osaka University and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Telenoid is a portable tele-operated bot capable of transferring people's presence through audio and movement transmission. It looks extremely weird with a ghost-like white body and realistic eyes and acts as if you are communicating with a far-away acquaintance. Now, who prefers bots over humans?
Diego-San toddler robot
Modeled after a 1-year-old toddler, Diego-San is a research robot that packs a baby like face developed by Hanson Robotics and a body from Japan's Kokoro. It's a learning bot that communicates intuitively with people, just as babies do, using the cameras in its eyes and an expressive face, controlled by 27 motors. The expressions on this little guy's face can creep you out.
Kaspar social-robot from the UK
Another robot that might creep you out is Kasper, a child-sized humanoid robot developed by the University of Hertfordshire. It has been designed to act as a social companion for children suffering from autism and other communication difficulties but its mannequin-like face with a realistic haircut and eyes can easily scare you.
CB2, the one that can record your emotions
Another creepy robot is Osaka University's CB2, a child-robot with a biomimetic body. The machine captures emotional expressions using its eye cameras and tries to mimic the physical and mental capabilities of a two-year-old. It performs a range of motions, including things like dangling its legs while sitting on a chair and moving its shoulders while mimicking the motion of breathing.
Kobian robot with lip movement
Finally, it is the Kobian robot from Waseda University in Japan. This machine was developed to realize culture-specific greetings and is capable of displaying expressions like a real human being. It boasts of a head built out of a CPU and can simulate the human speech with the weird movement of its lips and oscillations of the head.
