Slashdot Mirror
Panasonic's 16-Finger, Hair-Washing Robot
angry tapir writes "Panasonic has developed a hair-washing robot that uses 16 electronically controlled fingers to give a perfect wash and rinse. The robot, images of which were distributed by Panasonic, appears to be about the size of a washing machine. Users sit in a reclining chair and lean back to place their head in the machine's open top. Two robot arms guide the 16 fingers, which have the same dexterity as human fingers, the company claims."
These robots obey the three laws, so one won't ever go bezerk and crush the skull of a human...
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
But does it talk to you about the weather or other small talk like stuff that the hair was (usually girl) does at the hair cut place? At least have it say stuff like "wow, that's really funny" or "yup yup"...
---- aut viam inveniam aut faciam
This is called Heights of laziness. Or it should be used for a person who don't have hands.
-V
From TFA
"The robot was developed to assist caregivers in hospitals and health-care facilities and is the product of a Panasonic program that is developing robotic technology for health care and welfare services."
"Panasonic said the robots are designed to provide a more comfortable life for the elderly and people with limited mobility while reducing the burden on caregivers."
Finally we have developed hair washing technology. I have struggled with this all my life, and Panasonic feels my pain. It is so confusing to was your hair, sometimes I use all 10 fingers (and thumbs), while other times I only use 6. I am unable to maintain consistency, and I'm never sure how much I should wash and rinse. Sometimes I don't rinse, other times I spend the rest of the day rinsing. The portability of this machine will make it practical in every day life, I could take it to work with me, take it on a holiday, and wash my hair to the machines content. Luckily the two robot arms have the same dexterity as human fingers, because my fingers have the same dexterity as robot fingers. In this way, we will be a perfect match.
THANKS PANASONIC, YOU'VE SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS!
This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Not to mention the human boobs, which get in our face and make the whole trip worthwhile.
One has to wonder... exactly what problem does this solve? In order for this to be successful commercially, it will have to cost less than the equivalent of paying someone to do the washing by hand. If you look at automatic hair driers which are fairly common in hair salons, it makes sense, because the cost of the machine is low compared to paying someone to do the job. This on the other hand I can't see ever being cost effective; the cost of the robotics, software and safety considerations are too high to make it commercially viable. Neat idea but hardly a successful, sellable product.
and dandruff will be a thing of the past
Not that's what I call multitouch! Does it run iOS 4.2?
Do you hear me panasonic? I like the hair washing machine, but I'd love relaxing instasleep more...ahhh...
...because washing your own hair is just too hard.
What's with all the comments saying that this is a silly/stupid/worthless invention? Panasonic has automated a dull task previously reserved exclusively for unskilled human labourers! This is /., when did we start longing for the manual human elements of mindless, repetitive work?
I, for one, wish Panasonic all the best in automating everyday tasks. I don't think I've seen a new machine to help with day-to-day life since the post office got an electronic stamp dispenser ten years ago. This is supposed to be the future!
When this thing has been field tested and gone down in price, you can probably find them at your local hairdresser's. Am I the only who'd like a two hour head massage for a handful of quarters?
They are really doing research for the sex toy industry... and testing the technology on body parts that are less easily injured.
This, and its usage, was pretty much covered in the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory.
Right, because I'm sure they spent extra money on motors with that amount of power in them. Seriously, do people worry that the little electric wheeled toys from McDonald's will go flying accross the room and put a hole in someone's leg???
Within 10 minutes of this thing going on sale to the public, somebody's gonna have their dick in it.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
"The robot was developed to assist caregivers in hospitals and health-care facilities and is the product of a Panasonic program that is developing robotic technology for health care and welfare services."
Ah! Brilliant plan! Give them to the poor so when we find out the robots make your hair fall out they can sue and cease being poor!
along with your hair.... I don't see an "OH S**T MY HAIR IS CAUGHT IN YOUR FINGERS" button on the chair... so one would probably assume if the robo-fingers hit a knot, its bye bye to that bit of hair ;-)
Never cross your fingers near it. It will go into hairpiece mode.
When this thing has been field tested and gone down in price...
I think this is the point of a lot of non-portable high-technology. You manufacture them to gain experience because maybe, just maybe, there'll soon be a market for robot servers. I mean, look at electric cars. There are a lot of companies trying to make one, and yet it's less profitable (if at all) than the standard gas/diesel models.
Japan has a rapidly aging population, so having a significant, if not exactly huge market, for service industry robots is by no means a long shot. Perhaps the future will be one robot to do them all, cut and wash your hair, give you a massage and perhaps, uhm, other things. But who knows, maybe specialist robots will be the rule. One robot to wash you hair, another to cut it, still another to give you a mani/pedicure.
I tend to agree. I cut my own hair (it's quicker, easier, and more reliable, and I get better at it, unlike my last barber). However, one of the few nice things I remember about going somewhere to get a haircut was the element of service. Sometimes it's just nice to have another person groom you and look after you. I guess that's why some people still go to barbers for a proper shave.
Although I suppose they've had machines for massage for a while, but people still use a real masseur/masseuse.
Your wife or GF doesn't go to the salon just to get clean hair. She goes to get out of the house. She goes to interact and gossip with the other people there. This device will sit unused no matter how effective it is in deterging oil and dirt from hair.
For once the summary of the article on /. is less sensational than article itself.
From the article title "Panasonic unleashes 16-finger, hair washing robot" you'll expect Panasonic released a horde of 16 finger robots wandering on the streets looking to hair wash innocent victims in a "Thing" manner.
... or admire the figure-hugging white coat as it fusses over you. If not, I'm not interested.
No sig today...
Invent a hand-job machine.
With 16 fingers...
No sig today...
These robots obey the three laws, so one won't ever go bezerk and crush the skull of a human...
I think that's precisely the point. It must be relatively easy to just not give the robot enough strength to harm a skull. So, you get a almost completely safe robot that handle's people's heads.
Five years later, the population becomes ready to accept robots in their homes. This is but a stepping stone to make people feel safe:
Head wash -> back massage -> chiropraxis -> open heart operations -> brain tumor removal -> handjob.
Whenever I see fairly powerful human-interaction-robots like these I can't help myself but think of the possibilities of malice with one of those.
Take this one for instance: Imagine this one with a virus on it that reprograms it to crush your skull instead of gently massaging it.
I wouldn't want to use one, not only because of this, but for reasons I'll mention in another comment as well.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
A web interface, a sensible OS, scriptable application code, and a few security holes. Endless potential for laughs. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for a back scratching AI. Never mind chatting through a terminal Mr Turing, when I can't tell if it's a machine or human giving me a back scratch, I'll accept that AI is really here.
unofficial hack so that it will 'wash' your pubes.
I don't want a robot washing my hair. I'll either do it myself or - as a viable alternative - I'll have that cute hairdresser with that sexy grundge outfit and the punky rasta hairdo with scissors and comb tattooed on to her arm (!) wash my hair after cutting it. I bet I could get like 10 000 haircuts + washing from her for the price of that robot. ... This robot must be a insanely expensive maintenance nightmare - and it's no where nearly as attractive as aforementioned hairdresser.
Seeing this reminds me of the fact that it's not only always software developers endeavoring on notably harebrained (no pun intended) ideas.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Will we have to tip the robot, and if so, how? Does it accept batteries?
Perry Bible Fellowship already did it.
A lot of personal carers do not get paid. Something that could give them a few minutes of spare time could be extremely helpful. It also can help the patients sense of independence when they can choose when to wash their own hair if they don't have to wait on human assistance.
... Perry Bible Fellowship comic!
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
models are pink and have rainbows on them
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Just remembered an old joke:
So they bring out a new machine to cut hair, it's a box with a hole in it, you stick your head inside and it cuts the hair.
Somebody asked a question: -But everyone's head is different.
The answer was this: -Only for the first time.
You can't handle the truth.
The chair at the nail salon works pretty well. If only they had those at the barber's, so you could chill while getting a haircut... be a whole lot better than a stupid robot hairwasher.
Didn't Steve Martin invent something like this back in the seventies?
Oh, that was an electric dog polisher...
Every time I'd lay my head back down into that thing I'd feel like I'm about to have root canal.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
Amazing.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Any ever see Wall-E and what happens when the make-up robot went bonkers? I'd like to not have one with 16 fingers around my skull. No thank you robot overlords.
Base 16?
Panasonic hasn't provided a launch date for any of the robots. An obstacle to their commercialization likes in the lack of safety standards and liability laws concerning robots that interact with humans. Clarification is needed on such issues before the robots could become products, but guidelines could be published in Japan as early as 2012.
Translation: The lawyers are hard at work on not being legally liable when the machines start ripping off heads and gouging eyes out?
That thing looks unnervingly like the rolling trash can in my garage.
We have a $20k machine that does what a person could do in about 30 seconds? Or could be resolved for weeks with a beard trimmer in under a 60 seconds? This looks like a problem that wasn't needing a solution.
Still no cure for cancer.
..from a planet that was colonized by hair stylists and phone sanitizers.
The reasons why Japanese build all these robots to deal with everyday stuff are two-fold: 1: the population is getting older, more people needed for elderly care, 2: reluctance to hire in foreign people to do that work, basically a xenophobic society getting more and more full of retired people.
Where are they supposed to put all these people? How are they supposed to feed them? Japan is already stuffed to the max and has to import the majority of its food. Xenophobic? Maybe. But it's not clear what the alternative is.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb627xDlqBs BBT rocks.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
How could this thing possibly be cost effective? The stylist at your favorite hair place does the same job for not a very big salary, and he/she can do a lot of other stuff too. I can't help but think these things are mostly publicity stunts, although there's presumably some valuable experience to be gained in solving hard (for robots) problems.
This thing is going to be too expensive for able-bodied people to have in their home - if you have full use of your body, washing your hair is easy, and this thing would have to cost, what, thousands of dollars? The only use I can imagine is in hair salons and assisted living places. So your wife would still get to go out and interact with people... just not with the hair washer.
Look how big version one of anything is - computers, radios, portable phones, and so on. Then look at how big they are a few years later. Give this a decade, and it will be small enough that you can just clip it onto the shower and have it wash your hair. Still not as good as having another human in the shower with you (well, I guess that could depend on the human...), but probably a step up from washing your own hair.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News