Life-like robot arrives in Sydney

She looks like any other young woman hanging out at university, but Actroid is not real.

Image: Paul Gosney

(Paul Gosney)

She looks like any other young woman hanging out at university, but Actroid is not real.

The life-like robot has arrived in Australia from Japan to help launch a new Creative Robotics Lab at the University of New South Wales' College of Fine Arts (COFA) in Sydney.

The laboratory is aimed at developing the appearance, behaviour and sociability of robots.

Actroid was created by Professor Yoshio Matsumoto of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

The 165cm robot can blink, talk, respond to eye contact and recognise body language.

Scientists hope she'll help them better understand how humans and robots interact, so they can better tailor robots to help serve human needs, whatever they might be.

Mari Velonaki, Director of the Creative Robotics Lab, said the centre was focused on developing robot-human interaction.

"Robots are the way of the future. This doesn’t mean they will replace humans but they need to know how to respond to us," Professor Velonaki said.

"We are interested in creating robots that respond spontaneously and naturally so that our interactions with them are more meaningful."


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2 min read

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By Rhiannon Elston

Source: SBS


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