Puppets without strings

You'll never have to lift a finger again. Honda Motor and state-backed Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International announced this week they have developed technology that allows robots to be controlled by thinking alone.

The amazing new Brain Machine Interface (BMI) analyzes brain activity, noninvasively, to manipulate robots. In a demonstration, a robotic hand was used to play a rock, paper, scissors game by a subject in a magnetic resonance imaging device. Since different areas of the brain are used when forming each hand shape, the MRI could track the blood-flow patterns and relay the appropriate signals to the robot hand.

Though the hand shape still had to be formed by the subject to ensure the proper brain activity signal, the researchers believe robot control could be accomplished without physical movement. Honda wants to equip its already astounding Asimo humanoid robot with the BMI within ten years. Just sit back, relax and pilot your very own spaceman.

LTM now on sale in Japan!

I'm pleased to announce that Loving the Machine is now in bookstores in Japan! From the amazing automatons of feudal Japan to giant animated robots and the cutting-edge androids of today, Loving the Machine is a journey of passion and discovery. What's behind the country's love of robots? The book traces this question through the evolution of humanoid machines in Japan.

It's hardcover, full of neat visuals about the past, present and future of robots in Japan and retails for only 2,940 yen. Available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, Book 1st in Shibuya, Yaesu Book Center and other fine booksellers. Click the cover image above or here for the Amazon Japan page (in Japanese). Check it out!

Healing seal wriggles into film

In more than one earlier post, I've alluded to robot therapy, the art of using robots to improve the quality of people's lives. The idea that interactive, situated and seemingly sentient machines can play useful roles in helping people is embraced in Japan. Paro, probably the most meltingly cute machine ever made, is a robot baby harp seal specifically designed to give users a warm fuzzy feeling. It wriggles and coos in response to petting, hugging and certain words, and has been proven effective in reducing patient stress at old folks' homes in Japan and overseas including the U.S. -- over 600 units have been sold domestically to individuals and welfare facilities. Paro also earned the title of "the world's most soothing robot" from Guinness World Records.

Danish director Phie Ambo is now working on a documentary film about how Paro has touched the lives of elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and other disorders. Titled "Mechanical Love," it is to show the cuddly bot working its magic with seniors in Italy and elsewhere. Footage of the manufacture and use of Paro, developed by Takanori Shibata of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is to be shot in Japan this summer. If you can't wait for the film, you'll have to shell out at least 350,000 yen to get your paws on the star stuffed animal.

Biped bots for under $300

RoboCup success story Vstone has released a low-cost fun robot kit called Robovie-i that can do sumo, ball kicks and programmable moves. The venture company, a key member of RoboCup champion Team Osaka, has incorporated a novel design into Robovie-i: it can walk because its head, essentially an aluminum faceplate, swings from side to side.

Robovie-i was developed with the government-backed Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International. With only three motors, it may look like a walking alarm clock, but it's designed to be more fun than sophisticated. Robovie-i is priced at about $260 and sells for a third the cost of Vstone kits that come with twenty motors.

'Female' robot to debut in DC

Japanese robot wunderkind Tomotaka Takahashi of Robo-Garage will demonstrate his latest creation, a "female" robot named FT, in Washington this week. Takahashi, named by Popular Science Japan as one of "33 people who will change the future," has created a number of eye-poppingly cute remote-controlled robots like the pint-sized Neon, and will be on hand at Book Expo America May 19th and 20th in conjunction with promotion for Loving the Machine. He will also demo Chronio, left, another of his anime-inspired creations.

FT stands for Female Type. She's about 18 inches tall, has 23 motors, a carbon fiber and plastic shell and a lithium polymer battery. Takahashi, who believes that half of all robots will soon be female, consulted with fashion models to give FT a feminine gait, which incorporates his SHIN-Walk motion technology.

Robot therapy for hospitalized kids

Children with incurable diseases are undergoing robot therapy at a hospital in Tokyo. In a trial program at the National Center for Child Health and Development, conversation robot ifbot, developed by Nagoya's Business Design Laboratory, has been entertaining long-term patients and their families. The hospital is looking into whether robots can have a healing effect on the children.

The robot research program was conceived in conjunction with an NPO. Said one 10-year-old patient about the robots: "I want them to come and play at my bedside every day."

Asimo in Turkish delight

Automaker Honda Motor reports that Asimo, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, wowed people in a national tour of Turkey recently. Asimo drew a crowd of 2,500 fans at an event in Istanbul, the wonderdroid's single-largest European audience.

Asimo also appeared on ATV's flagship evening news program as a star guest, and demonstrated advanced recognition capabilities. The humanoid's second visit to the country was to mark the launch of the all new Honda Civic Sedan, manufactured at Honda's Gebze factory. In 2004, Asimo met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdo-an in another tour of Turkey.

More human than human

I've written an article on Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro's androids that has been published in Scientific American. Ishiguro's stunningly lifelike android Repliee, seen here with NHK TV's Ayako Fujii on whom it was based, astounded visitors to Japan's 2005 Aichi Expo, where it was demonstrated. Ishiguro is reportedly working on a new android, a copy of himself.