A miniature humanoid robot lives on your shoulder and wants to be your friend
May 30, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica
MH-2 telepresence robot (credit: Yuichi Tsumaki, Fumiaki HOno, Taisuke Tsukuda/Yamagata University)
OK, this one pushes me over the “Onion threshold,” to coin a term.
Hey, I’m not making this stuff up — it comes from IEEE Spectrum, a credible source, and it’s not April 1!
Anyway, it turns out Yamagata University researchers are developing a robot to make sure you’ll never, ever have to be alone again.
Think of it as Facebook Version 23 meets Revenge of the Nerds.
MH-2 (that’s “MH” for “miniature humanoid”) is a wearable telepresence robot that acts as an avatar for your remote friend, who’s also terrified of being alone. Know what? I don’t want to be alone with the creepy little robot, OK?
MH-2 is designed to be able to mimic human actions as accurately and realistically as possible. Think Telenoid, except it can actually do stuff besides wiggle around semi-creepily, as Spectrum puts it.
Instead of having said friend come along with you on a trip, for example, you can bring along an MH-2, explains Spectrum. Back home, your friend puts on a 360-degree immersive 3D display and stands in front of some sort of motion capture environment (like a Kinect, for example). Then, they get to see (shudder) whatever the MH-2 sees.
Meanwhile, the robot on your shoulder acts like an avatar, duplicating the speech and gestures of your friend right there for you to interact with directly.
The 20-DOF Miniature Humanoid MH-2: a Wearable Communication System, by Yuichi Tsumaki, Fumiaki Ono, and Taisuke Tsukuda, from Yamagata University in Japan, was presented this month at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, in St. Paul, Minn.
Shortly after that, tiny robot outfits mysteriously showed up in K-Marts nationwide. OK, I made that part up.
Update: Kidding aside, a future version of this innovative tech could possibly find its way into future 3D versions of gadgets like Google Glass.
Comments (17)
by Robofan
Randolph, you’re probably right about the HUD avatar being more practical in the long-run, but I like the idea of a cute little companion-bot on your shoulder.
by Christian Gehman
Robot Barbies! … coming soon to a KMart Target near you!
by Peter Simmons
Had to be Japan. Maybe they’ll have geiger counters and act as an early warning device for when the next nuclear meltdown occurs.
by Bri
It’s kind of like carrying a small dog in a perse. This could actually be useful, instead of sad, pathetic, and annoying!
by Phil Osborn
I couldn’t figure the attitude dimension on this, either. How very often when I’m at a convention do I find myself faced with two or three events, such as panel discussions, all on the same time slot. Or I may be at a party and there are three important conversations going on that I would really like to follow. A cheap, intelligent bot that could be left in a lecture to automatically focus on the speaker and audience participants would be GREAT! Same for replaying what happened at a party. Imagine a singularity party where Ray and Vernor Vinge and Drexler are all having separate conversations within earshot, and you can only follow one thread…. DARN!
by Cybernettr
I think this idea has applications for shy people, shut-ins and those who normally can’t get out and about. How about two people attending a convention or a museum in a foreign land, one virtually, and splitting the cost? I’m not sure the little robot is necessary, however. How about a hat with a video screen built in that would show the face of the virtual traveler? This would also avoid blocking the view of the one wearing the device.
by Jonathan Cole
It will be nice to have my attorney present on my shoulder when I get pulled over. If a police captain is occupying the avatar, can she pull rank on the local officer?
by Bri
I’ve got to ask, who is this writer? The Japanese have always appeared kooky to U.S. Citizen. That doesn’t make their invention less valid! Soon the basic human needs for companionship will create things far more out there than this. If you insist on writing in this tone of voice you’ll never ‘understand, the why of it. In less then ten years the cell phone will be the size of a red blood cell. At that point you will be able to smell feel taste touch anyone anywhere in the world. If they talk another language you will hear them in your own: and if you would want them or your dog or a famous person to perch on your shoulder, that will be your prerogative! There are few things that I dislike more than someones snide comments against anothers persons self expression. Especially when absolutely nobody is being harmed!! Try being a little more open minded and a little less critical. My father use to walk around with our pet Siamese cat on his shoulder. How much different from this was that?
by XavierD
I was thinking the same thing so I clicked on the ‘by’ link and was surprised to see that the author is someone who co-founded this site. Maybe she did not intend to come off sounding so close-minded and was attempting just to be humorous.
by Editor
XavierD: correct. This is obviously a prototype and this kind of technology will likely soon find its way into Google Glass-type products.
by Mr.x
@Bri:”If they talk another language you will hear them in your own:”
Sure, but what about grammatical ambiguity, connotations etc?I don’t say it won’t happen at all, I just think it is unlikely to happen in this timescale (and no, I don’t only think ‘linear’).
“In less then ten years the cell phone will be the size of a red blood cell. At that point you will be able to smell feel taste touch anyone anywhere in the world.”
Anywhere? You can taste anyone anywhere?Now I am scared.
Anyway, think about time and resources and you will be able to see that this is not true.And, no offense intended, who is ‘you’ anyway (referring to the pronoun in your sentence, not you as a person)? One has to overcome aforementioned resource/physical constraints to truly have an all-encompassing reach, which initiatly only few people (if that’s truly possible, that is) will be able to do (morality cast aside).Then the distribution of this technology will gain monentum and shortly afterwards peak/ reach an equilibrium, leaving around 20 percent of all humans without access to this technology.People like to mention mobile phones as example for the spread of technologies, but who says that this one won’t go the way of the internet.If that is the case, assuming a normal lifespan, most of us (readers of this site) will be dead before access becomes widespread enough to be labeled ‘normal’ to humans in general.Of course, this is only relevant if your thinking is not completly ‘west-centric’.
“There are few things that I dislike more than someones snide comments against anothers persons self expression. Especially when absolutely nobody is being harmed.”
Maybe this article can be seen as a form of self expression of the writer. The article harmed nobody (unless you consider yourself harmed).To be a truly consequent consequentialist you have extent your position to encompass this article.However, if you read some additional articles on this site you will find that many articles written by this author are written in the same style (big surprise). I assume (taking other articles, where the author being critical for criticalness’ sake seems unlikely and the style seems similiar, into account ) it is not meant to be prerogative but funny.
But I agree with your other positions (each to their own, prediction of truly ‘different’ applications of technology).
by Bri
In my early childhood I tended to be very introverted. Around first grade, the concept of introvert to extrovert was introduced to us. I felt that I should explore different social groups. Although i liked meek nerds the best, I tried to be more rounded, and I hung out with a bad crowd. I cut classes smoked cigeretts and tried to fit in. I can clearly remember saying to my self not to be good at school, because that would evoke ridicule from my peers, in fith grade a girl moved in on my block, and the teacher just ripped her apart in front of the class. Even though Theresa was in tears, the teacher showed no mercy. Me and my two buddies felt that the teacher didn’t deserve respect. She sent us to the school shrink. At ten years old, with a lackluster academic record, he found out that I have a high IQ and already possessed a college level vocabulary. There are a lot of basic skills that I purposely learned to do wrong or different in order to not look like a geek. Please don’t judge me by these short comings. Whenever anyone ridicules another persons foibles, it makes me very defensive of their right to self expression, and I throw it right back at them. I didn’t find the tone in the article to be humorous, but then again I can’t stand insult comics or the three stooges comedy to be funny. I know it’s popular but I read a different agenda to it, like when Ray was introduced as Woody Allen’s nerdy brother. I read that as part of our cultures tendency to diminish intelligence and glorify vapidity. So in a simililar manner I’ve responded to the editors remarks. Many aspects of the article can be used comically. You should see me use comedy to defuse dangerous siduations in the ghetto where my shop is located. Me personally I prefer plays on words. Especially if it can redirect someones attention. Grocho Marx was superb at this. ‘ you can leave in a huf or in a minute and huf’ that remark is directed at you and me. I look forward to the editors work , this web site and all of the remarks. It’s just that if I were that researcher and read those remarks from a Japanese perspective,( think hari Kari, and the Japanese tendacy to be socially sensitive) I would be hurt. Like I said, I tend to be nerdy myself, and I come to this site to soak up it’s intellectual content. If I wanted comedy I’d listen to Bill Mahr. Enough said. Sorry I lashed out. My bad.
by Mr.x
I did not want to seem judging.And concerning some tendencies of your culture, well I never understood them myself (e.g the humor often feels forced, shallow, restricted to mainstreamstuff in addition to a heavy focus on word plays- I prefer myself prefer jokes who are ”situational/contextual”–>culture lag). Anyway, to be honest, if I were the researcher I would not care since it is not unusual to be insulted by certain people, regardless where you are from and what you are doing (depending on what you count as insulting/hurtfull).I also believe that Japanese don’t strictly apply their social standards to gaijins.The researchers have probably put in too much work to be strongly influenced by non-objective comments.Where I live people don’t discriminate that much against smart people, so maybe it is hard to understand for me where you are from (non-literally speaking).
But nonetheless, as you said yourself, you are the one who interpretes whatever you read.It is much more healthy not to assume the worst, just for ones own sake.Your feelings etc are in your head, and each time you choose to feel emotional about sth inconsequential (to your life) you will strengthen that tendency (neuroplasticity).I once read an Indian tale about whose plot embodies the essence of that.It was about two wolves (of course, in real life we have more than two), representing the good and bad in us (insert whatever you want that to be), fighting for resources .A father told his son about those wolves, and the son asked: Who will win?The father answered: The one you feed.
It is the same with your feelings.One should only care about those things that lie in ones circle of influence, and those things that will influence that circle.And even then, there is no need to get too emotional in order to get sth done, one just has to taken physical actions.That way one avoids wasting energy and feeling needlessly bad.Some good things in life are proportional to
the degree of self-mastery one attains.The rest should be handled like the ancient stoics did, e.g not worrying and, to use an analogy, play with the cards that one has be dealt. However, have a nice day.
On topic: Imagine advanced versions of this robot (bigger, moveable).Few security guards could possibly guard a whole building, getting sensory input from the machines and controlling them when it is necessary (e.g instead of running through a supermarket to catch a thief, a/some local robot/s gets activated as soon as the watchmen see the thieving).
by Randolph Garrison
I would feel an i-glasses heads up display glasses with binocular cameras that would allow your friends avatar to be imposed on what you see and allow them to see what you see to be a better application.
by Snake
Kind of like Al in Quantum Leap…
by Marcos Marin
What?! Remote controlled by my “friends” from all over the world?! The little poking arm on that homunculus is LOOKing dangerously close now, though not for long unless you have the money to get the soon to come spare bionic eyes =) from the same source probably hehehe (now I SEE why those glasses LOOK so sturdy on that guy)
And speaking of creating the problem you’re are selling a solution for:
“Know what? I don’t want to be alone with the creepy little robot, OK?”
haha yes, the irony…
also, imagine all the pirate parrot jokes waiting to be made…
by Marcos Marin
Oh, poor humans are so lacking…