Toshiba Creates “Communication Android”
You never really cannot predict what will happen in the future. The technology is moving faster in the speed of light. 10 years ago, you never can’t imagine about humanoid robot that can speak like human. But now, this humanoid robot is knocking at your door. So be prepared and watch out for it.
If you talk about new technology, there is one country that you cannot forget. It is Japan. Japan is the land where many unbelievable and unimaginable inventions in technology are created. Perhaps it’s because the people are very creative and genius, or perhaps their eating habit and their education system are creating type of “out of the box” people.
If you talk about out of the box, there is one company which always think like that. In the Cutting-Edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition (CEATEC) this week, Toshiba unveiled their new invention. They call it “Communication Android”. This communication android is a humanoid robot that can speak using sign language. The sign language is in Japanese, and in the future, the company may develop much different sign language that can accommodate various type of sign language around the world.
Toshiba's new robot is named as Aiko Chihira. Aiko is a female humanoid robot designed for maximum movement of fluidity in its hand and arms. Its movement is almost like human, even its facial gesture, is a woman’s special gesture. The humanoid robot is employ with 43 actuators in its joints. These actuators are necessary for Aiko’s ability to speak in Japanese sign language.
At CEATEC exhibition in Japan, Aiko can perform and mimic the way human speak in Japanese sign language. But there are some limitations in Aiko’s movement. The humanoid robot only can mimic some simple movements. One simple movement that can Aiko mimic perfectly is greetings.
But this limitation is a great challenge for Toshiba to create more invention develops perfect humanoid robot. In the year 2020, Toshiba has planned to add their humanoid robot with speech synthesis, speech recognition, robotic control and other important sensors. This development perhaps can create a different version of Aiko’s humanoid robot. Perhaps it will create humanoid robot that are not like robot anymore. It can create robot that more like human. Perhaps, in the future, Toshiba can create a robot with emotion like human. Who knows?
The purpose of this invention is to create a robot that can help and serve people. Those are people with disability. Toshiba said, they hope to create a humanoid robot that serves as a companion for the elderly and people with dementia. In the 2020, the company hope can really produce a robot that can offer tele-counselling in natural speech or in sign language. They also hope their humanoid robot can help health care workers or family members to take care their family, such as their elderly people.
For creating this humanoid robot, Toshiba works together with some well known academic institutions, like Osaka University, Shibaura Institute of Technology and Shonan Institute of Technology. These three academic institutions are responsible for some great technology inventions that are already launched in the world for some time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment