panillo
09-17-07, 04:08 PM
He might look like any other children's toy, but you won't be able to pick up a 'Zeno' from Toys 'R Us this Christmas.
They cost tens of thousands of dollars to make, for a start.
This real-life Pinnochio is the culmination of five years of work by inventor David Hanson and a small group of engineers at his company, Hanson Robotics to develop an artificial robotic boy that can be used as a learning aid for children.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5655/zeno4ap468x328hb9.jpg
Zeno and his reallife equivalent, also called Zeno, the inventor's son
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4781/zenoap468x322ow6.jpg
Robot boy Zeno can convey human emotions and engage in conversation
With skin made from a lifelike synthetic substance called 'frubber' future, more advanced, variants of Zeno will be able to engage in conversation and convey emotions.
"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," said Hanson.
"It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3517/zeno3ap468x341jl5.jpg
The robot's face is based on a Japanese cartoon character called Astro Boy
His company offers models that look like Albert Einstein, a pirate and a rocker, complete with spiky hair and sunglasses.
They can be customised to look like anyone, Hanson said.
Although it can move smile, frown and acts like a sophisticated self-contained robot, Zeno synchs wirelessly to a PC running the same software that was used to create the hordes of elves, orcs and dwarves in the blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy.
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5599/zeno1ap468x345jh1.jpg
At the moment the 17 inch robot Zeno is wired up to laptops that run its software, but soon it will operate wirelessly
http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=d9e_1189691905
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=481663&in_page_id=1965)
They cost tens of thousands of dollars to make, for a start.
This real-life Pinnochio is the culmination of five years of work by inventor David Hanson and a small group of engineers at his company, Hanson Robotics to develop an artificial robotic boy that can be used as a learning aid for children.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5655/zeno4ap468x328hb9.jpg
Zeno and his reallife equivalent, also called Zeno, the inventor's son
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4781/zenoap468x322ow6.jpg
Robot boy Zeno can convey human emotions and engage in conversation
With skin made from a lifelike synthetic substance called 'frubber' future, more advanced, variants of Zeno will be able to engage in conversation and convey emotions.
"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," said Hanson.
"It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3517/zeno3ap468x341jl5.jpg
The robot's face is based on a Japanese cartoon character called Astro Boy
His company offers models that look like Albert Einstein, a pirate and a rocker, complete with spiky hair and sunglasses.
They can be customised to look like anyone, Hanson said.
Although it can move smile, frown and acts like a sophisticated self-contained robot, Zeno synchs wirelessly to a PC running the same software that was used to create the hordes of elves, orcs and dwarves in the blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy.
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5599/zeno1ap468x345jh1.jpg
At the moment the 17 inch robot Zeno is wired up to laptops that run its software, but soon it will operate wirelessly
http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=d9e_1189691905
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=481663&in_page_id=1965)