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Dancing With A Smart Robot

Posted by timothy on from the your-electronic-companion dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Yes, this is possible, thanks to researchers at Tohoku University, reports Japan Today in a brief article [Warning: it takes a while for loading]. Equipped with a computer, sensors and batteries, it can move in any direction on four wheels and has memory for five steps necessary to dance the waltz. This sidebar contains a photograph of a student waltzing with the robot, MS DanceR (Mobile Smart Dance Robot), coming from another short story carried by Ananova."

2 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. But can it do Swing? by AyeFly · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Im sure any Lego-bot could do the box dance Waltz... but can you make a robot that can do the Lindy Hop drops and arials? at least a robot could hold my weight up... but i wouldnt want to try and throw it around :-)

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  2. One Disturbing Robot by ObligatoryUserName · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think their design is firmly in the Uncanny Valley (article on said valley if you don't know what I'm talking about, http://www.arclight.net/~pdb/glimpses/valley.html) . If this thing moves realisticly, I think the mannequin head and torso would be a bit disturbing to dance with. (And I think the guy in the picture agrees, based on his facial expression!)