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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*

70 of 469 comments (clear)

  1. I forget the movie or documentary by rolfwind · · Score: 4, Funny

    But it starts with the premise that dumb people breed... a LOT. While the smart people, well, this here is one extreme.

    Giving us the resulting societies we are in.

    1. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by amolapacificapaloma · · Score: 5, Informative
      --
      exp(i*pi)+1=0
    2. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by LS · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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
    3. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by rekica · · Score: 3, Funny

      .. assuming humans are the smarter versions, which is not yet proven.

    4. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by duvie · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, I saw that. Quite the nice documentary, it was.

    5. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, getting laid is smart, yes. Getting pregnant on the other hand...

    6. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by dkleinsc · · Score: 2, Informative

      Smart people do get laid. That's not the issue. Some likely reasons smart people reproduce less that dumb people:
      1. They're smarter about avoiding pregnancy if they don't want to have a child. If they fail, they're more likely to have the cash to pay for abortion should they want one.
      2. They want to give plenty of attention to each child, so they tend to have 1-4 kids rather than 7-12.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    7. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by hesiod · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They want to give plenty of attention to each child, so they tend to have 1-4 kids rather than 7-12.

      But unemployed morons on welfare have plenty of time to spend with their dozen children while they're not out looking for a job... or at the bar.

    8. Re:I forget the movie or documentary by JoeMerchant · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Having time != spending time productively

  2. Two responses: by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...even redesigning her to have a simulated orgasm. *Shudder*

    1) Nope, not convincing

    2) So it faithfully reproduces every aspect of a real wife? Except that it has an off switch*...

    * /me is going to hell for that one

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
    1. Re:Two responses: by ElectricRook · · Score: 4, Funny

      faithfully reproduces every aspect of a real wife
      That must mean there is a very advanced random behavior generator on-board.
      Otherwise, it'd be about as much fun as watching a digital clock click off the time.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    2. Re:Two responses: by apodyopsis · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would rather it had an ON switch so I could turn it...

      oh wait.

    3. Re:Two responses: by Darundal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      He only said it needed a software upgrade to be able to have an orgasm. I would be willing to bet that he already has the hardware there and has tested it. The guy already has the thing programmed to "slap" people who touch her inappropriately, and to never slap him because it would hurt him.

    4. Re:Two responses: by mishehu · · Score: 2, Funny

      Please don't tell me that she's a personality prototype from the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation! That or made by the same people who brought you Bender's Robo-Puppy. ("Robo-puppy commencing 4 hour barking sequence...")...

  3. Re:Just when you thought japan couldn't get weirde by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, this was a guy in Canada, according to the article.

    This is probably the best thing I've seen on Idle so far.

  4. No, no by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 4, Funny

    even redesigning her to have a simulated orgasm. *Shudder*

    Don't you mean *Quiver*

    --

    Operator, give me the number for 911!
    1. Re:No, no by D-Cypell · · Score: 5, Funny

      In any case, it sounds to me like he has designed himself a robot *girlfriend* at the moment. When it is capable of having a simulated headache, we can upgrade it to 'wife' status.

    2. Re:No, no by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Funny

      Note, it DOESN'T have sex. Ergo, "wife" not "girlfriend".

      --
      -Styopa
  5. Re:Just when you thought japan couldn't get weirde by Xaoswolf · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know if that makes it better or worse...

  6. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by mewshi_nya · · Score: 5, Funny

    "even redesigning her to have a simulated orgasm."

    Like ALL women! AMAZING!

  7. Why? by gacl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come on! . . Why would the readers of Slashdot be interested in this type of subject?

    Wait a second. . .

  8. Re:What's wrong with this picture? by Xaoswolf · · Score: 4, Funny

    but it feels sooooo right

  9. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by LaskoVortex · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At least in Star Wars they did a better job of following the script. Watch her trace the glasses. She moves her head and then he follows with the glasses. She is ahead of him. Seems dubious to me.

    --
    Just callin' it like I see it.
  10. dude like wth by jonas_sten · · Score: 4, Funny

    dont make "your wife" jokes to this guy, she will find you and chase you around with a truck to ultimatly be thrown in a smelter "come with me if you want to live" ~Sumer Glau

    1. Re:dude like wth by SPQR_Julian · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't sign your post with Summer Glau unless you spell it correctly.

  11. Stella by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Har-court! Harcourt Fenton Mudd! Where have you been? What have you been up to? Nothing good, I'm sure - well, let me tell you, you lazy, good-for-nothing-"

  12. The guy is obviously a freak. by Atario · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, he had the chance to design his own wife, and look how flat-chested he made her.

    --
    "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
    1. Re:The guy is obviously a freak. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Blame it on the economy and downsizing.

    2. Re:The guy is obviously a freak. by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Informative

      I mean, he had the chance to design his own wife, and look how flat-chested he made her.

      Some of us like women like that ;)

    3. Re:The guy is obviously a freak. by bledri · · Score: 4, Funny

      > Some of us like women like that ;)

      Robotic? (Sorry, lack of impulse control...)

      --
      Some privacy policy Slashdot.
    4. Re:The guy is obviously a freak. by VShael · · Score: 4, Funny

      He's Japanese and he didn't design her to look like a teenage school-girl.

      I'm confused.

    5. Re:The guy is obviously a freak. by Muad'Dave · · Score: 5, Funny

      he didn't design her to look like a teenage school-girl... with tentacles. Fixed that for you.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  13. Harcourt!!!! by kimgkimg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd!!!

  14. Re:Not Japan, Not America by kklein · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  15. Simulated revulsion by erc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
  16. Re:fwiw by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does the protocol droid speak the binary language of moisture vaporators?

  17. It's an old story by Xtifr · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's an old, old story: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy builds girl.

    (Shamelessly stolen from my uncle the science fiction writer.)

  18. Re:What's wrong with this picture? by osu-neko · · Score: 3, Funny

    "... He needs to learn to be less controlling if he wants to have a good relationship with real people."

    Given what he's trying to do here, I would say your if clause is false.

    --
    "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  19. Sudo by BountyX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reminds me of that xkcd cartoon...

    Man: Aiko, make me a sandwhich.
    Aiko: Access denied.
    Man: Aiko, sudo make me a sandwhich.
    Aiko: Turkey, or ham?

    --
    Trying to install linux on my microwave, but keep getting a kernel panic...
  20. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by lysergic.acid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that part did seem rather awkward. it doesn't help that the article tries to play up the capabilities of the robot.

    "She is always happy to clean the house for "husband" Le, help with his accounts or get him a drink.

    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.

  21. Fake by Wordplay · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A couple minutes from the end, he forgets the question briefly, stutters a little, and breaks his usual pace--and she answers the question anyway, even though he hasn't gotten it out yet.

    I'm 99% sure this is scripted. There's not much evidence here that she's anything more than a RealDoll Ruxpin. There's probably -some- computer control there, assuming it's not a remote-control Mechanical Turk, given that it responded to the "stop!" commands. The rest? I'll believe it when it's not just him asking the questions.

  22. What Universe is this by goatpunch · · Score: 2, Funny

    where Slashdot links to articles in The Sun!!?

  23. Aiko/Real Doll by k-macjapan · · Score: 4, Funny

    It'll be interesting when people can order customized versions of this... I can imagine the shop will get calls similar to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Irs1ewDoM one of my favourite prank calls. Enjoy

  24. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by Zsub · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sure it does belong on a site aimed at nerds... This informs us on how easy life could be if we got one of these robot girls, instead of trying to get a real one.

  25. obligatory... by heitikender · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... can you imagine a beowulf cluster of those. Ok, even two would do. Twins, maybe ...

  26. She won't lick my foot! by erroneus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Deal's off!! Post back again when she will lick my foot.

    When there are woman out there... two of them... with a cup... Aiko does not yet compete with real women. But with that said, the need to replace women in general should indicate clearly that women are doing something wrong.

  27. Its a fraud by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Its a fraud by Dunbal · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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?

            I guess you're not much of a history person, are you? The world is FULL of examples of "one guy in his garage" doing far more than mega-corporations, from aircraft to linux.

      Yes it could be a fraud, but your argument is invalid.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:Its a fraud by Viol8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The "one guy in his garage" generally invents a new kind of toaster or something , he doesn't solve complicated algorithmic computer problems in multiple fields all at the same time that thousands of other researchers in the field have failed to do.

      Oh , and I forgot to mention - it seems to have perfect speech recognition too.

      Buy hey, if he's a genius no doubt he'll patent his algos and clean up and within a year we'll all have it on our desktops.

      Or maybe not.

    3. Re:Its a fraud by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Good point. If this robot is so perfected already AND has the potential to be a perfect sexbot, why is the adult entertainment industry not all over this one already, cranking out customized sexroids?

    4. Re:Its a fraud by shentino · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm sure a desktop would be the ideal usage environment, depending on the size of the desk.

  28. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by Uber+Banker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "And if Slashdot agreed with you, then one way or another this would not have been posted." Slashdot has been, and always will be, it's comments, without fail far more insightful than it's submissions or editorial. Then there was Idle. Complete crap that just doesn't fit in. Wasn't that why Digg was invented?

  29. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by nomad-9 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Still, to emulate a real wife, it would have to undergo heavy weight gains over the years, have a over-developed verbal mode, and get cranky during its (simulated) menstrual cycles. Also, it should experienced increased robotic headaches which would get more frequent with the years of matrimony, and directly proportional to the decrease in the number of simulated orgasms...

  30. Inventor's site by denzacar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is much more informative

    For example, you might have guessed that the guy was into anime but reading his resume you have absolute proof.
    He did 3 "how-to" books on the subject of drawing in manga style.

    * Le, Trung, Making the Impossible, Possible. Advance Female Android,

    ISBN 978-0-9689663-5-8

            * Le, Trung, How to Draw Anime for Beginner Vol 1, 2001, ISBN 0-9689663-0-6
            * Le, Trung, How to Draw Anime for Beginner Vol 2, 2002,ISBN 0-9689663-2-2
            * Le, Trung, How to Draw Anime Background, 2002, ISBN 0-9689663-3-0

            * Le, Trung, "Effect of Aspirins", York University, May 2003.

    Also...

    How Aiko was built

    I have been watching Robot anime, since I was a kid. After watching Chobits and DearS, I have made up my mind that I will make a full human android on August 15,2007. All it takes is inspiration...

    After many struggles, and exactly 1.5 months later I have finished Aiko version 1.0. On Novemeber 2,3,4 2007, Aiko made her first TV interview from Global news, and her first public apperance at the HobbyShow at Toronto International Center, and Ontario Science Center a week later. Aiko is bilingual, she can speak English and Japanese.

    I mean, you got go give it to the guy - he is quick.
    If he continues with this tempo he will have his army of robot maids built in no time.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  31. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by JoelMeow · · Score: 4, Funny

    Advanced technology is indistinguishable from a sufficiently rigged demo.

  32. i want one by FudRucker · · Score: 2, Funny

    if she (it) can mow the lawn, wash dishes, wash the laundry, sweep & mop the floors, and any other misc household chore i program in to it...

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  33. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by jonaskoelker · · Score: 3, Funny

    "great, I can make a robot! ... now what can I do with it?"

    Well...

    I for one welcome our new robot dominatricies...

  34. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by mevets · · Score: 3, Funny

    You do know that the Sun has other sections more appropriate for nerds http://www.page3.com/

  35. Because everyone knows that by rodney+dill · · Score: 5, Funny

    Building, programming, and maintaining a fully functional female robot is easier and cheaper than understanding the real thing.

    --

    Use your head, can't you, use your head,
    You're on earth, there's no cure for that
    - S. Beckett
  36. Re:Mental Problems by thasmudyan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is exactly what I was afraid of. Brainwashing is not a moral act, even though the person clearly "wants" to do something after the program.

    Why not? It does for consenting adult humans. Nobody would say that anybody would say that a relationship was wrong because somebody's upbringing pre-disposed them to some particular type of partner.

    If you're brought up to live your relationships in total servitude then that "upbringing" was tantamount to abuse and the relationship isn't right either.

    You know, once upon a time, black people were brought up to be slaves. Today, in some parts of the world, women are still brought up to be slaves. Don't argue it's alright because they are consenting adults and clearly "want" it so.

    It frightens me that we have to have this discussion again and again, and still doesn't seem to be obvious how fundamental rights are supposed work. Somehow this is still a difficult concept for most people to agree to.

  37. There are some that are hopeless by kenp2002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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? ]=-
    1. Re:There are some that are hopeless by Longwalker-MGO · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I doubt many people would be lining up for the sex upgrade.

      I am married, (hopefully not for long), so I have had sex with an inanimate/artificial being for a long time now. I can deal with it. If the sex is better than my supposed wife, I would take that upgrade in half a heartbeat.

      Difference is, this would be cheaper than my wife and I wouldnt be told 'no' so often.

    2. Re:There are some that are hopeless by kenp2002 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's hope that keeps them going. False hope, but hope none the less. I've see people just start at the door, hoping that some family member will come walking in. I've met a few "basement" dwellers, oddballs, and rejects. I've met some people working for a web dating service (customers) that have been trying for YEARS just to meet someone. They're too fat, too bald, no clumsy, to ugly, too ... something and just won't find anyone. I've seen adults with various mental defects. They'll never marry, date, have kids, nothing... Worse that I remember was a mentally retarded guy who lived with his mom all his life. Worked in the mail room. His mom died and about 3 weeks later he just gave up and died too. I went to his funeral. There were 6 of us there. 4 co-workers, his state provided guardian, and a distant 3rd cousin that came out.

      What a fucking way to die... I mean... damn... If a robot could make someone like that happy, shit here's $20 for the cause. No one deserves to die alone. No one. No crook, not Gein, Hitler, not even the devil himself. No one deserves to die alone. Here's an extra $200 if the robot actually cared if he died.

      The worst thing is there are soo many people out there crying themselves to sleep alone. It's just sad.. so sad...

      --
      -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    3. Re:There are some that are hopeless by slashdotlurker · · Score: 2, Informative

      I am forced to agree I am afraid. This is worse than just a few social misfits or mental defectives.

      My own elder brother, who works for a defense contractor, was dumped 14 years ago by his fiancee. He took it hard, but went through grad school, did some top notch work, worked for 2 years at NASA before deciding to make more money. Maybe he decided to drown his sorrows in his work initially, but then work sort of became his joy. I know because I tried to double date a few times.

      Now, he is 39, and has been looking at it more seriously. He has spent a lot of money on eHarmony and match.com. However, most women his age are either happily married, or have heavy baggage from failed marriages and not worth marrying, or worse, are gold diggers.

      Not saying that he is not carrying baggage as well, but he is now fighting time. In a few years, it will be too late for him to marry someone his age and have kids.
      I pray his luck will change, but he is now such an extreme nerd that no one normal wants him. My own gf does not like him too much, even though she is the forgiving type.

  38. Re:Don't Date Robots! by hesiod · · Score: 2, Funny

    And if that doesn't do it for you, find a copy of "Electro-Gonorrhea: The Noisy Killer."

  39. Reality/History Hacking by KudyardRipling · · Score: 2, Funny

    While 'fun in bed' is being had, all that is needed is someone to hack into her controls and have her spazzing out screaming "VIET CONG! VIET CONG!" with uploaded helicopter and small arms fire sound effects and an mp3 of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones playing in the background.

    --
    Submission as evidence constitutes plaintiff and/or prosecutorial misconduct.
  40. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by AviLazar · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

    Dude! Your killing my hopes of finally being able to get some!
    So where can I buy one of these?

    --

    I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
  41. Re:Inspiration..Star Wars robot C3-PO? by Chief_Wiggum · · Score: 2, Funny

    "even redesigning her to have a simulated orgasm."

    Like ALL women! AMAZING!

    You know, it's the uncanny valley's responsibility to prevent messed up shit like this. >.>

  42. Not all the Creator Claims... by LUH+3418 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I know the guy, he posts on societyofrobots, a robotics forum I used to frequent. Unfortunately, I have to call rubbish on this one. I don't think he knows much about AI. He claims all sorts of incredible things that his robot supposedly does that are all far beyond what anyone has done in robotics, vision or AI as a whole, but never elaborates on how he did it, and discusses design issues that should, in practice, be non-issues.

    Link to his thread on that forum: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1335.0

    A quote of interest, from the robot's creator:

    "I am what you called a mad scientist. I don:t believe any documentation, No blue print, No paperwork, No Cad. I have build 12+ large robots (main robots) none of which has any documentation or blue print...

    Even the software has NO documentation. The software is about 3Gig and I think I have about 15 lines of comments. The typical variable name I used are.... X, X1,X2, A1,A2,AA1,AA2,AAA1,AAA2 etc..."

  43. That's Ridiculous by Intrinsic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

    Every man has a hope for a partner, they just need to get off their ass learn some new skills. Women are attracted to how you hold yourself and not by what you do or how good you look.. Well women worth dating that is.