Toshiba greeted visitors to its 2015 International CES booth with a humanoid communications robot named ChihiraAico. She could speak in English or Japanese, and even sing.
Toshiba’s engineers created her to “achieve real heart-warming communications with human-like facial expression and with any possible body language.”
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1638750,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"mobile,","session":"B"}']She took advantage of natural and realistic facial expression based on joint research with Osaka University. She also used quick, silent, and smooth body movement thanks to a pneumatic drive system created with the Shibaura Institute of Technology and the Shonan Institute of Technology. Toshiba described her as a “robot for tomorrow’s service industry and homes.”
She was so lifelike, though her fingers needed work. It was spooky.
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Above: Singing robot ChihiraAico from Toshiba.
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