Hiroshi Ishiguro, the professor at Osaka University who has brought us the Geminoid HI-1 robot, adds one more model to his line of facial expressions-capable robots with the help of the International Institute of Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) and Kokoro Co. Ltd. Though the HI-1 was a revolutionary machine at its time, this new Geminoid F (for female) is capable of even more realistic facial expressions and the video embedded at the end of the article is self-explanatory.

The Geminoid F is far better than Hiroshi Ishiguro's last model, being capable of offering more while using fewer resources to be built and function. The degrees of freedom, for instance, have been reduced from 46 to only 12 on this new model, thanks to the fact that it is a tele-operated robot. This means that a human has to do all the work in front of a computer, which uses a new and revolutionary facial-recognition software. This advanced solution allows for the robot to mimic simple facial expressions like blinking and smiling.

Also regarding the Geminoid F's evolution compared to the previous Android, this one can work using a single compressor, instead of an external box filled with compressors and valves. This is because robotic engineers have used an air servo control system and air servo valves for the female. These modifications to its structure make it more affordable.

Copies of this robot will be sold for around $110,000 (10,000,000 yen). As the Geminoid F is so friendly-looking, its creators hope people will feel more comfortable using it. I think that as you get closer to it and realize that it is a robot who's doing the blinking, you will most likely be crept out.

Now, all we can do is wait for a complete robotic system to be capable of receiving commands from us people and we can safely stay at home while they do all the work for us. Or perhaps that is just a silly idea that will probably be turned into a Bruce Willis movie. The video from IEEE Spectrum is available below.




We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .