The Gadgets Page

I love robots, so any time I get a chance to see a famous one in person, I’m right there. I heard that Aiko Chihira was at the Toshiba booth and I really wanted to see her. She is supposed to speak Japanese sign language. Here is the video I took of her:

I was hugely disappointed because the way they had her set up, she was NOT an android. If you listen to my video, you can hear me try to talk to her like she is my buddy. It wasn’t until I saw on the screen that it said, “She is not interactive. She does not respond to the audience’s motion or voice.” She was just like the animatronic pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, repeating a presentation over and over.

Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to have a robot friend, but the longer I live, the more I realize that my hopes will probably never be realized. Here is a longer video of her from the CEATEC show in Japan:

When she tries to smile at the beginning of the video, it just looks wrong, somehow. When she starts doing the sign language, she looks awkward. Disneyland’s Abraham Lincoln looked just as creepy almost fifty years ago. I am beginning to doubt that I will ever get my robot friend before I die.