There was startling footage this week of the HRP4C Robot Girl on show in Tokyo. One of the applications the robot is designed for is to act as a model - a moving mannequin - and it will take part in a Tokyo fashion show next week. You can see from the footage that there are still challenges ahead for the designers - Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The inert hands, the 'old woman' walk, the slow response times for facial expressions. However, the designers say this version is just the first step.
It's interesting that this robot is being considered for work in the fashion world. A few years ago, an American university team put out a call for an artist to help them design the head of a humanoid robot. I don't know what became of the project, but it strikes me that it's now time for artists and designers to work with roboticists as we move closer and closer to robots / androids that will be present in our daily lives. The famous Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama worked on the design of the first generation of the Sony Aibo and so successful was the result that the Aibo is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
This HRP4C is in part a futuristic body with the head of a rather anodyne Japanese girl. Its hands don't move but are detailed with pink nail polish. In appearance, it is neither one thing nor another. There seems to be a tendency for androids - such as Repliee and Aiko - to look and dress quite conservatively and as a result they resemble awkward Sunday school teachers.
We live in a post iPod world now where technology and design are inseparable - if these human-like creations are to feel comfortable, familiar and desireable to us, the makers need to reflect contemporary styles in both their design and appearance. Otherwise, the view that these (mainly) female humanoids are mere curiosities or demure surrogates for the inadequate will persist.
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