Japanese inventor creates robotic clone of himself, featuring similar expressions
Japanese inventor Hiroshi Ishiguro has successfully created six robotic clones of himself in the last 18 years. His latest creation, Geminoid HI-6, looks just like him and can even mimic his facial expressions. The life-like teleoperated android is currently on display at Osaka University. The robot's skin is made from silicone to replicate a real human feel.
Geminoid HI-6: A robotic lecturer and conversationalist
Geminoid HI-6 is not just a display piece, but also an active participant in academic activities. The robot delivers lectures and answers questions from students. Ishiguro revealed that the robot is equipped with a large language model and contains information from 10 of his books as well as his media interviews. Despite its advanced features, Geminoid HI-6 currently lacks the ability to walk, but plans for a biped mechanism are underway.
Voice and movement capabilities
Geminoid HI-6's voice isn't an exact match for Ishiguro's, but rather a generic adult male with a weird accent. The robot features 53 degrees of freedom and can mimic a range of human behaviors, mostly upper body movements and facial expressions. Despite being just 50cm tall and 25cm wide, the bot packs 16 pneumatic actuators and an external power control supply.
A tool for human understanding and interaction
Ishiguro employs his Geminoids as research tools to understand humans. His team employs engineering, cognitive science, and neuroscience methods to study different subjects. They even use a teleoperation system to study not just how people talking to the robot are affected but also how the robot's operator is impacted. Ishiguro believes for humans to have better relationships with robots, it's important to feel intimacy toward them and accept them as social members.
