Do androids dream of old age?

My birthday is April 10, 2017. How long do I live?
-Leon, Blade Runner


What happens when androids get old? Well, it ain't pretty. Basically, they melt.

Of course, "old" comes pretty fast in robotics. Your gorgeous synthetic Actroid companion may be the stuff of your dreams today - but her skin will start to liquefy in about a year.

Before long she'll end up dismembered and rotting in a cluttered basement, like this first-generation Repliee I found at Dr. Hiroshi "Gitchang" Okuno's lab at Kyoto University. When I saw her in such a fallen state, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

The Actroid and Repliee series of androids developed in Japan have silicone skin. An insider at developer Kokoro Co. tells me that one of the biggest challenges with Actroids is that their skin decays and dirties quickly. It has to be replaced every year. The process is long and tricky.

The Tokyo-based company is looking into ways to make the skin more durable so Actroid's beauty will linger longer. This will be an important technical obstacle to overcome as androids are expected to start working in everyday jobs like receptionists in Japan, which faces a crippling population decline.

The skin is most prone to melting around the android's hands, arms and legs. The second photo shows Repliee's gnarled hand, which appeared to be slowly melting when I picked it up. Her torso was on a chair, and her legs were on the floor. Her wig was falling off - she was a mess.

Being the Eve of the Repliee series, she needs a more fitting resting place than a lab basement. Maybe the Robot Museum in Nagoya can find a spot for her, a place where she can be beautiful forever. But first she needs a new skin!

Oh, baby!

It had to happen - researchers from Osaka University and the Japan Science and Technology Agency have overseen the birth of a robot baby! The bouncing bundle of silicone joy is called CB2, from Child Robot with Biomimetic Body. The team, which includes android wizard Hiroshi Ishiguro and RoboCup cofounder Minoru Asada, created the robot so scientists could learn more about childhood development. There's a video here.

They say CB2 is designed to act like a 1- or 2-year-old human child, with a sophisticated array of air-servo motors beneath its silicone hide and visual, auditory and tactile sensors that allow it to react to its environment in a lifelike fashion. It reacts if tapped on the shoulder or presented with a plaything. Professor Asada was quoted by the Mainichi newspaper as saying ongoing research will focus on improving body functionality so the robot can be integrated into society. The team also wants to teach it how to walk and talk once the necessary software is developed. Another goal is to improve CB2 so that it can play with real children.

At 33 kg (72 lbs) and 130 cm (4'2"), baby is pretty big. In appearance it seems rather uncanny as well, and I believe some would say that this robot falls into the Uncanny Valley. CB2 seems half-alive and half-human, and doubtless will engender a negative response in many people.

But his daddy must be proud of him. Maybe Astro Boy is passing out cigars.

Getting cuddly with Actroid

He has created the perfect woman. Her only flaw: she isn't human.
- Star Trek, "Requiem for Methuselah"

On a recent visit to robot maker Kokoro, I got a backstage tour of the magic and spent some quality time with their lovely lady android, mentioned in an earlier post. Actroid is a synthetic female, ultra-lifelike in appearance and movement. I'd seen her several times at various events, but at Kokoro I got to get up close and kick the tires, as it were.

Actroid is designed to work as a receptionist or emcee. The receptionist version sits in a sensor-laden booth and can answer questions in four languages, almost like a fortuneteller. Four receptionist Actroids gave directions to visitors at the 2005 Aichi Expo in Japan. The latest emcee version, Actroid DER2, stands on a platform, generally looks gorgeous and introduces stage acts. She's equipped with 46 servomotors and a repertoire of sassy comments, like "Please don't touch me -- it's sexual harassment!"

Never one to take "no" from an android, I squeezed the Charmin. Her skin is soft and smooth, though cold. Somewhat like a rubber chicken. With her winsome looks and totally gyaru wardrobe - she goes out in Hello Kitty t-shirts, a nod to parent company Sanrio - it's easy to overlook this shortcoming. All she needs is a little warmth in her silicone hide.

A mind would be nice, too. The wizards at Kokoro, however, are already working on this. A company official told me the firm is pursuing collaborative artificial intelligence research to make Actroid more humanlike. With warm skin and a sharper tongue, who knows what she'd be capable of?

Global revolution, methinks.