The 'human' side of robots at electronics show (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by Theresa , Saturday, January 10, 2015, 09:07

She stood on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show, carried on conversations, blinked her eyes and sang a convincing rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads.

It would have been unremarkable if Chihira Aico were not a robot.

"Hello, my name is Chihira Aico. I am 32 years old, although, technically, I was born in September 2014. Look how expressive I am!" she said.

Robots like Toshiba's are becoming so eerily realistic they could be mistaken at first glance for a human. She sings, smiles, raises her hands and has lifelike facial expressions controlled by 15 tiny pneumatic actuators.

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