Today we’ve got a really great guest post and giveaway by Linda Nightingale. She’s here to talk about Japanese lifelike robots and how they relate to her new book, Love for Sale. We all know how much I love my android/cyborg romances, so I’m thrilled to be hosting her here.
And! Plus! Also! Linda is also being EXTREMELY kind and generous and is giving away a pair of citrine earrings to one lucky commenter. The earrings can only go out to someone in the US, but if you’re outside the US, you can win your choice of one of her e-books instead. Check out this gorgeous jewelry:
Now that we’re done ogling, let’s actually get to these robots. Take it away, Linda!
a hot new research field and making rapid progress.
Aico, a life-sized robot in a pink party dress with pearls, stood like a mannequin,
perfectly still—at first. Suddenly, the android began to gesture wildly.
her arms up and squealed, “I can get excited!”
intend to make her seem even more expressive when interacting with
humans. By adding additional motors to her joints, engineers are
refining her movements to make them appear fluid while
programmers work on her language processing, improving
her communications skills and responsiveness. The ultimate goal is
for the robot to read human behaviors and emotions, then mimic them,
thereby appearing human herself.
her joints to coordinate her body’s movements. Fifteen tiny air pumps on
her fact control the blinking of her eyes and the opening of her mouth as
she speaks. Toshiba developed Chihira under the direction of Hitoshi Tokuda,
the project leader. Osaka University performed the muscle research, building on
previous work on prosthetic limbs.
opening in July will employ ten
robots at the check-in counter as receptionists. If you think these humanoid
androids are creepy, you might think twice about visiting this hotel. They can
establish eye contact and respond to body language.
The Wild Rose Press on June 10, my androids are completely indistinguishable
from human and are sold as companions… programmed to love. When I wrote Love For Sale, I
didn’t know about the Japanese life-like robots. I don’t find them creepy but
extremely interesting. I’d love to interact with a human-like android.
Jobs,” suggests that while it might be some time before we see a robot takeover
of our workforce, we’ll be having sex with them sooner than we think. Hum.
Interesting. Would you find a sentient being programmed to love you disturbing?
Buy Link: Love For Sale
Author Links:
Website: www.lindanightingale.com
Blog: lindanightingale.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LNightingale
And lastly, coming soon from Linda—Gambler’s Choice from The Wild Rose Press.
