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Inventor Builds Robot Wife
Inventor Le Trung must really like the book "The Stepford Wives," because he has built the dream of every lonely man without hope, a robot wife. Le's wife, Aiko, starts the day by reading him the newspaper headlines and they go for a drives in the countryside. Le says his relationship with Aiko hasn't strayed into the bedroom, but a few tweaks could turn her into a sexual partner, even redesigning her to have a simulated orgasm. *Shudder*
Also, his command for her to read Japanese was not actually a Japanese command. It was an English command translated to Japanese (i.e. in English a command is issued with just the uninflected simple non-past verb, whereas it has to be conjugated to form a command--and there are several politeness levels--in Japanese).
What we are seeing here is a creepy foreigner with a creepy Japanese otaku fetish.
Shudder? Ick? Oh, please. Don't pretend you haven't thought about it.
I hate people who pretend to be above it all .. it usually turns out that they are actually doing the dirty along with everyone else, they just don't want anyone else to find out about it.
-- Ed Carp, N7EKG erc@pobox.com PGP KeyID: 0x0BD32C9B What I'm up to: http://intuitives.mine.nu
that part did seem rather awkward. it doesn't help that the article tries to play up the capabilities of the robot.
right... how does she get him a drink or clean the house without being able to walk? i don't see any wheels attached to her in any of the photos. typical media sensationalism...
this story seems to be more hype than substance. it's just a creepy nerd who's added speakers and some actuators to his Real Doll(tm). i don't see any technology demonstrated here that hasn't already existed in some form or another in various children's toys from the 80's and 90's.
i mean, does /. really have nothing better to put up on the front page than fluff pieces from The Sun? this kind of tripe might impress technologically illiterate housewives, but it doesn't belong on a site purportedly aimed at nerds.
Depends on your definition of "smart".... There are actually smart people out there who aren't autistic and can actually get laid.
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
Perfect image recognition + perfect handwriting recognition all decoded and read out in real time AND doing the maths too?
Sorry , but this is a fraud - its nothing more than a pre-programmed voice box he's set up beforehand and he then puts the correct thing in front of it at the right time so it looks like its comprehending it. If you don't believe me ask yourself what are the odds that one guy could do with $14K what big corps like IBM have failed to do with hundreds of millions of dollars or research? He's either a fscking genius and has invented algorithms 20 years ahead of their time or he's got some snake oil tucked away just out of camera shot.
Years ago I would havve mocked this. But the older I get I realize there are many people out there that just don't find someone. There are people that are "hopeless"
They end up crazy cat or dog people but I now can see that a robot wouldn't be any different then a cat or dog that a person bonds with.
I doubt many people would be lining up for the sex upgrade. I've meet some very lonely people (hospic for instance) and it's just the idea that there is someone there, be it a dog, or cat, or I suppose a robot. There are people that truely love their pets and bond with them. From cats, dogs, rats, bats, snakes, horses, goats, ferrits, birds of all sorts, and even fish. I suppose a robot would be no different really.
There are some people that aren't going to find companionship in life. I see quite a few mentally handicapped people in thier 70 and 80 (those that survive some rather barbaric eugenics movements) who never have been on a date. If a robot could have provided them some companionship, so be it.
Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age... but I just can seem to find the energy to mock this stuff anymore. I've seen too many lonley people suffering quietly who could use someone that fits some of the holes in their hearts. And sometimes you just need to hear someone speak to you. Some gaps, no pet can fill.
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Having time != spending time productively