Boffins give chatty robots a creepy human face

Boffins from Germany and Japan have teamed up to create a human-like face for robots. It's also a fairly creepy-looking head on a stick. The researchers have dubbed it Mask-bot. Robotics wizards from Technische Universitat Munchen, along with Japanese scientists, used a projector to beam the 3D image of a human face onto the …

[Titus Aduxass]

Creepy and noisy

She needs some lube.

[Ty Cobb]

I thought the whole point of making them look more human was to enhance the experience when they make with the head, ALA Jay and Silent Bob.

Where's the opening?

The robot icon? Dur.

[Bottle_Cap]

Christ...

Kuratate also said the system could "soon" be used to keep old people company, though the prototype – complete with oddly coloured scarf – is more likely to give your gran a heart attack than be her new best friend

If that's what's waiting for me when I reach my dotage I'm with the Who tbh....

[Cyberelic]

What a load of shite. And what's with the thud at the end of each sentence?

[Notas Badoff]

What's this sound in my I'll call them 'ears'

The thud is something to do with the air compressor turning off a half-second after each series of motions. To go along with the previous whirring buzzing sounds as the servos are activated to move the mask. Ya'know, as in 'prototype'. Perhaps the shite is your speakers?

[heyrick]

The DER-2 was *much* cuter

But at least it wasn't the radioactive ghost baby from hell (though not far off).

[K. Adams]

They've truly gone over the cliff and landed right at the bottom...

... of the gorge known as the "Uncanny Valley:"

--- --- Wikipedia: Uncanny valley:

--- --- --- --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

[ainsley]

I have no sound at the moment so I could not hear it. But it looks like a mildly animated brick to me.

[Armando 123]

Prior Art

Jeff Dunham is preparing a lawsuit as we speak.

[Jeremy 2]

Two words...

Uncanny Valley.

[Dan Wendlick]

hardly new tech

That basic method is how Disney has been doing the Madame Leota character in the Haunted Mansions for 40 years, and claims they based that on even older film SFX techniques.

[alwarming]

I know a more fun way to create a talking human.

Paris, coz she knows it too.

[Player_16]

Kinda cartoon like.

If you look at most cartoons, the lower jaw doesn't move.

.

Should've used Captain Jack Sparrow -with that head scarf.

[0laf]

Is it just me

or was that crap?