New Cell Phone Will Stare Into Your Soul
Last year roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University unveiled the Telenoid, a toddler-sized robot designed to “transmit the presence” of a person remotely. The idea is to have webcams track a user’s face and head movements and then have the robot mimic those movements, which is supposed to increase the “humanness” of the interaction despite the fact that the thing falls smack into the Uncanny Valley.
Ishiguro and his colleagues have now shrunk the Telenoid into the Elfoid, a prototype cell phone that allows callers to “feel each other’s presence.” So you call somebody, and their Elfoid wriggles to life in their shirt pocket, and after they’re finished pissing themselves they can totally bask in your telepresence.
Please join me in being utterly unsurprised that this thing is Japanese.
Anyway, the designers feel that a more humanoid design (which will ultimately be able to exhibit facial expressions and make gestures) will overcome some of the limitations of voice-only communication. It’s an interesting idea, and I can already foresee all sorts of interesting customizations being possible. I can also foresee these things being a major plot point in at least one horror movie in the next five years. Yeesh.
Posted in Needful Things | 6 Comments »
March 8th, 2011 at 10:42 am
If the uncanny valley were available on foursquare, this thing would be the goddamn mayor.
And here’s the thing- if it were cuter- anime style or a plushie or a cute little cartoon skeleton or monster, it would be totally tolerable.
But all this does, is remind me of a movie I watched part of with my mom when I was little- I don’t recall the name, only that these pasty-white homunculi dragged some poor hapless bastard into the chimney, never to be seen again.
And this? Looks just like those. :quietly freaks out in the corner:
March 8th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
@JoAsakura: and it’s calling. For YOU!
Yeah, what is with the Japanese fundamental misunderstanding of the uncanny valley? It’s like they figure if they slap eyes on it (or limp stumps…?), it’s human! Done! Pat yourself on the back! ASIMO is far cuter than this travesty.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
@xjane: It’s crawling across the floor on it’s stubby vestigal limbs… “answer meeeee” it whispers.. “ANSWER MEEEEEEE”
March 9th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
JoAsakura –
Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069992/usercomments
That movie scarred me for LIFE!
March 10th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
@JoAsakura: Touché. I shall now have nightmares about this. Well played.
March 11th, 2011 at 11:41 pm
@maven: AUGH! THAT’S THE MOVIE! :Twitch:
@xJane: :bows: ;D