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WORLD / America
Robot maker builds artificial boy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-14 14:09
RICHARDSON, Texas -- David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these
days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he
bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there's the robotic
Zeno. It can't speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track
people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions.
Zeno, a robot boy creation by David Hanson makes one of his many
expressive faces at Hanson's office in Richardson, Texas, Thursday, Sept.
6, 2007. [AP]
At 17 inches tall and 6 pounds, the artificial Zeno is the culmination of
five years of work by Hanson and a small group of engineers, designers
and programmers at his company, Hanson Robotics. They believe there's an
emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions,
or social robots. And they'll be showing off the robot boy to students in
grades 3-12 at the Wired NextFest technology conference Thursday in Los
Angeles.
Unlike clearly artificial robotic toys, Hanson says he envisions Zeno as
an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in
conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like,
patented material Hanson calls frubber.
"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one
that is intelligent," Hanson beams. "It sees you and recognizes your
face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."
It's no coincidence if the whole concept sounds like a science-fiction
movie.
Hanson said he was inspired by, and is aiming for, the same sort of
realism found in the book "Supertoys Last All Summer Long," by Brian
Aldiss. Aldiss' story of troubled robot boy David and his quest for the
love of his flesh-and-blood parents was the source material for Steven
Spielberg's film "Artificial Intelligence: AI."
He plans to make little Zenos available to consumers within the next
three years for $200 to $300.
Until then, Hanson, 37, makes a living selling and renting pricey,
lifelike robotic heads. His company offers models that look like Albert
Einstein, a pirate and a rocker, complete with spiky hair and sunglasses.
They cost tens of thousands of dollars and can be customized to look like
anyone, Hanson said.
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