Japan's Proposed 30-Year Robot Program

Gallamine writes "A group of Japanese researchers have proposed a Government plan to spend 50 billion yen per year (that's over 400 million $US) for 30 years on developing a robot with capabilities of a 5-year-old. Japan's current economy may prevent the plan from happening, but the interesting point is the parallels to the U.S. Apollo space program, America's attempt to put a man on the moon. While expensive, the benefits to the American population from that program are probably unmeasurable. Perhaps the U.S. Government should consider funding such a program over here?"

Comments

Recipe for robot emulating a human 5-year old.

[teamhasnoi]

10% Cute (or ugly to eveyone other than owner)
40% Crying
5% Crayon ability
15% Get daddy a beer
7% Underfoot
3% Questions beginning with 'Why'
20% Screaming, running, and breaking.
Please contact me for licensing.

Re:Recipe for robot emulating a human 5-year old.

[clambake]

That doesn't leave any space for nose picking or paste eating, I'm assuming these will go in beta 2?

or...

[Tumbleweed]

let's let Japan do all the spending on the project, then we'll buy one of their fancy schancy new robots, and reproduce it ourselves.

Well that would be cool, but...

[L. VeGas]

I'm much rather have a 5 year-old with the capabilities of a robot.

Re:Well that would be cool, but...

[IthnkImParanoid]

You mean you want something that can't parse human language, and runs around bumping into walls? Just get a retarded kid.

We can do better...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you double the price and can get me a robot with all the capabilities of a 19 year old cheerleader, I'll call my congressman tonight.

I knew it!

[ajiva]

I knew Japanese Anime are more of a documentary then entertainment! I can't wait to see huge robots fighting each other, being able to transform into jets and guardian modes! Plus with all the destruction that the robots will make, the Japanese construction companies will be busy for quite some time!

Re:Measureing a 5 year old

[L. VeGas]

Could it get to the point where you have a "child" in a super human body?

We already have this. It's called "Mike Tyson".

30 Years, eh?

[bazmonkey]

Just in time to send it to Mars to work on the power plant.

Re:Give me 6 years...

[El]

Uh, I think the Japanese want to mass produce these, which means you'll need about 100,000 girlfriends. If my experiences with just 1 girlfriend is any indication, that can get REALLY expensive. $250 million a year is a bargain by comparison!

Re:The Goal and the Problems

[IthnkImParanoid]

This is kind of a problem already. Ever seen interviews about sex with teenagers in small midwestern towns?

"What else is there to do?"

I wish I grew up in a small midwestern town.