Japanese Build Pocket Robot-Cellphone Hybrid

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Japanese Build Pocket Robot-Cellphone Hybrid

Posted by Unknown on Friday March 4, 2011 @05:20AM from the making-calls-creepier dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Japanese researchers unveiled yesterday a pocket-size telepresence robot called Elfoid. The device, which looks like a little ghost, transmits voice and motion over a 3G network to convey a person's 'presence' to a remote location. It's a creation of Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University who is known for his lifelike teleoperated androids. The Elfoid has a limited range of motion, but its creators are planning to equip it with mini-actuators so it can imitate the movements of the person on the other end of the line. With vaguely formed features, the device is designed to be a surrogate of people of any age or gender."

81 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Too Creepy by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:25 · Score: 4, Informative

It's too creepy. Destroy this abomination.
1. Re:Too Creepy by ArhcAngel · 2011-03-04 05:38 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  But wouldn't you like to be able to hear your victim scream as you stick pins in this?
  
  --
  "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
2. Re:Too Creepy by trollertron3000 · 2011-03-04 05:44 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Agreed. Burn it. Burn it with fire.
  FREAKS!
  
  --
  Tiger Blooded Bi-Winning Machine
3. Re:Too Creepy by cayenne8 · 2011-03-04 06:29 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah....and just wait till one of these things pulls a "Chucky" and starts killing people.....
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
4. Re:Too Creepy by Bahamut_Omega · 2011-03-04 07:25 · Score: 1
  
  Only one series I've seen comes to mind right now. Keitai Sousakan 7. I'm just wondering if the cellphones will be bitching at you not to throw them as well.
5. Re:Too Creepy by Darinbob · 2011-03-04 07:40 · Score: 1
  
  Just when you think Japan can't get any weirder, their researchers pull off another breakthrough!
6. Re:Too Creepy by dunkelfalke · 2011-03-04 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  This one might be just perfect for Sheldon Cooper, don't you think?
  
  --
  "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
7. Re:Too Creepy by ken138888 · 2011-03-04 20:33 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. Burn it. Burn it with fire.
  FREAKS!
  ya
  
  --
  http://lyricsbus.net
8. Re:Too Creepy by Eclipse-now · 2011-03-05 15:45 · Score: 1
  
  I agree! It really is creepy — and limited. It looks like the toys I had as a kid, wire-framed bendy action figures that were meant to be the Greys from "Close encounters". My mum hated them and thought they looked like mutated embryo's.
  
  Not only that, they're too limited. I hate them. They should be focussing on the iPad & tablet market and creating super-cool avatars that beat the pants off anything Xbox has created. Isn't that far more William Gibson than having an ACTION FIGURE for crying out loud? Why bring it down to the level of the meat — especially if we can't customise it with the click of a button? Ooooh, shiny idea ... dress up accessories made in China! Shsssshhhhhhh, nothing to see here, move along! Move along! (Jumps on phone to make a squillion in a new dress-up-dolls market).
riiight... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:26 · Score: 2, Interesting

might be my next cellphone? no thanks, I may enjoy the song "voodoo people" by prodigy, but that doesn't mean i want a voodoo doll for a cellphone
1. Re:riiight... by thedonger · 2011-03-04 05:46 · Score: 2
  
  I'm gonna hold out for the D.P. model. Maybe that one will have real hands and true "reach around" capability.
  
  --
  Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
2. Re:riiight... by Phoghat · 2011-03-04 18:27 · Score: 1
  
  I'll wait until they make on like this so I can call 900 numbers.
  
  --
  Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Oh no, just no by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:26 · Score: 1

Kill it, with fire.
Bender & the card by Toe,+The · 2011-03-04 05:28 · Score: 3, Interesting

I don't know why, but for some reason, this just makes me think of the robotic greeting card sitting on Bender's shoulder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Futurama_219_-_Mother's_Day.jpg
1. Re:Bender & the card by Luckyo · 2011-03-04 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  This appears to be essentially a 1:1 idea taken from future cell phones shown in macross: frontier. In there the phones made various noises, wiggled, and their "hands" where actually various phone extensions, like headphones. And they appeared to be operated by being squeezed in various way in addition to holographically projected controls.
2. Re:Bender & the card by Dabido · 2011-03-04 22:01 · Score: 1
  
  It reminded me immediately of Chobits http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobits where the human looking computers do exactly as the TFS describes.
  
  --
  Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:29 · Score: 4, Funny

What is wrong with these people?
1. Re:Something odd by MickyTheIdiot · 2011-03-04 05:37 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  This post really made me laugh for some reason.
  If I had a girlfriend though, I would want her to be Japanese. I would love to come home and see her dressed as a maid or in cat ears... I don't think that part of Japanese weirdness is bad AT ALL...
2. Re:Something odd by ZankerH · 2011-03-04 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  What is wrong with these people?
  Prolonged radiation exposure.
3. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:58 · Score: 0
  
  Dude. These are the people who came up with no-pan kissa, Hello Kitty Wine, and Odori-gui (quote: "Let the fish wiggle inside your mouth a bit before chewing to its death!").
  Heck, just have a look at this:
  http://www.google.com/search?q=weird+japanese
  What isn't wrong with these people?
4. Re:Something odd by MikeDaSpike · 2011-03-04 05:58 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If you go over at sankaku complex (NSFW site) they once in a while post survey results (mostly from 2chan) and the majority of it shows that most japanese girls despise otaku (nerds). Also, for some reason japanese culture thinks that moaning as if you're being raped is the standard while having sex. That might be bad or good, depends on your preferences...
5. Re:Something odd by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-04 06:04 · Score: 2
  
  Too much time talking to Pintsize.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
6. Re:Something odd by biek · 2011-03-04 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  If I had a girlfriend though, I would want her to be Japanese. I would love to come home and see her dressed as a maid or in cat ears...
  This post really made me laugh for some reason
7. Re:Something odd by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-04 06:19 · Score: 0
  
  Heh, I keep getting told the same thing: I want to move to Japan, and people keep telling me "Japanese girls hate Americans." I don't really care; I want to get away from this city, and from Tokyo, and this ... mess. Find somewhere quiet, rolling hills, have a nice garden with a sakura tree and some flowers planted around... maybe teach English or Go, spend time in an Izakaya and at an Aikido dojo (and possibly Judo; Judo has always interested me, but it's inaccessible here), learn to cook some....
  I like Japanese culture. Not bullshit like Tokyo, with millions of flashing lights and funny dressed people and screaming and puchinko machines and whatnot... people are polite, introspective, and proud of their work. Americans aren't proud of their work; they're proud of their paychecks.
  In Chess, there is only one metric: did you win? In Go, you have to build your position from the start; you can lose by a half a point, or you can lose by a half a dozen struggles for life as you get smashed into corners and crushed down to insignificance. Your playing can be completely incompetent, or it can be skillful and brilliant-- and you still lose, but the person who beats you is still thoroughly impressed. And here we have only one metric: did it get done? If it's in place, that's good enough; no matter if it's right, if it actually works correctly or just barely works, or if it's at all durable (if something changes, do we tear it out and make a new one, or just modify what we have?). I like people who have a sense of pride in their work, and who seek understanding and improvement at any chance, even if they have to admit fault.
  I don't think I'll have a problem with "Japanese people really don't like Americans." It's more a matter of if I like them or not; we can go from there. Of course I have much to learn about their culture, much I can't get out of a book, much regional adjustment even: living on the US East Coast in Baltimore is different than New York or Virginia, and far different than the US Midwest; living in different parts of Japan will of course demand adjustment to different cultures. I'm sure I can learn from those around me.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
8. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  If your partner is silent while having sex, you're doing it wrong.
9. Re:Something odd by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-04 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  No-Pan Kissa sounds like something Americans would have done first if it was somehow legal or economically favorable.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
10. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 06:42 · Score: 0
  
  It's not a weirdness, it's a plus!
11. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 07:18 · Score: 0
  
  "Japanese people really don't like Americans." yup and neither do Slashdotters. Idiot
12. Re:Something odd by nevillethedevil · 2011-03-04 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  Not if you're into necrophilia
  
  --
  Be gone from my sight or prepare to feel my flaming wraith!
13. Re:Something odd by tom17 · 2011-03-04 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  This post really made me laugh for some reason
14. Re:Something odd by Darinbob · 2011-03-04 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  I don't see any reason to wake her up after the long day she's had.
15. Re:Something odd by MokuMokuRyoushi · 2011-03-04 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  Having never been to Japan(though I'd like to pay a long visit!), I'll comment on your distinction between chess and go. My comment is thus; huh? I play both every now and then, and every thrilling aspect of Go you just described is very much present in chess mate. The strategies are just as infinite, the struggles just as plentiful. I'd say one is just as challenging and exciting as the other.
  
  --
  Humans are terrible replicators of Godly things.
16. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 10:09 · Score: 0
  
  Weeaboo.
17. Re:Something odd by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-04 10:09 · Score: 1
  
  I've always found chess egregiously boring. The first time I played was when I was like 5, against my dad. The second time I was 15, against the top player in my chess club, who nearly cried because he lost. I really had no idea what I was doing, it was like here and checkmate. I always considered it a child's game, where the loser is the idiot schoolyard bully who stands up, punches the nerd in the face, and wins.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
18. Re:Something odd by MokuMokuRyoushi · 2011-03-04 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  Strangely, I'm having doubts about your story. Random moves from a player who doesn't know the game beating a well-practiced chess player. I wasn't there though, so I suppose I can't know whether the player in question was blindfolded and drugged.
  
  --
  Humans are terrible replicators of Godly things.
19. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 11:15 · Score: 0
  
  But that's kinda the point... Japan is the kind of place where such a thing can be somehow legal and economically favorable.
20. Re:Something odd by notsoanonymouscoward · 2011-03-04 12:06 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah them chess stories sound awfully fishy. Also, as someone who lived in Tokyo for a year, I gotta say there is much variation in the microcosm that is Tokyo. Its not like a vast uniform wasteland of pachinko and soap parlors =)
  I've been around Hokkaido, Kyoto, Okinawa, and more. The most "Japanese" experience to my mind at least... was exploring the Izu Hanto, just a day's train ride from the bustle of Tokyo. Your mileage may vary. To bfl, I would suggest that if you do go (and you should!)... go with as few expectations as possible. You'll enjoy it more. Even buying a loaf of bread can be an adventure sometimes.
  
  --
  I ate my sig.
21. Re:Something odd by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 16:44 · Score: 0
  
  Heh, as someone living here, I will second that sometimes buying bread is an adventure and say go for it! :)
  If you are looking for a job, a good resource is Gaijinpot.com
22. Re:Something odd by Phoghat · 2011-03-04 18:28 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, you know the Japanese are really turning freakazoid.
  
  --
  Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
23. Re:Something odd by Phoghat · 2011-03-04 18:38 · Score: 1
  
  And, just in case you were wondering if you are an otaku here are ten really good signs.
  
  --
  Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
24. Re:Something odd by bar-agent · 2011-03-05 16:03 · Score: 1
  
  "Turning?" Man, they passed freakazoid years ago.
  
  --
  i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
25. Re:Something odd by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-07 03:00 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not that skilled in Go either; I mostly reached 10kyu because I can outread everyone below 8kyu and most people below 6kyu. That is to say, I can play 12+ moves in my head and go, "... shit, that doesn't work." A lot of brilliant tesuji and joseki I play are things I've never seen; I discover them myself because they give the best result.
  Chess is the same way. I want the knight and the bishop out, keep the queen back (I'm leery of using the queen as a primary attacker; it's too powerful to lose in a trivial scuff, it must be a highly strategic piece, like a bishop and a rook combined, which of course usurps the power of the king as well, which also has the attacking and movement power of the pawn). My first move is typically to move a pawn to free a bishop; once the opponent moves a piece (last time, last year, this was jumping a knight out rather than advancing a pawn), I start considering defense against all his mobile pieces.
  I'm nasty. I identified anything troublesome and killed it. Rook/knight looks like an issue, can I get in its way and line it with the bishop? Kill the knight, the rook can't move that way; knight moves to avoid the threat, capture rook. Either way, the other piece just lost its protection. If I move here, how can he stop me? ... by that, ok let's not do that.
  In 9th grade there is a large difference between people who have played a lot of chess and recognize positions and strategies on the board and people who have not played a lot of chess but have played the game you're playing halfway through already. The difference is 9th grade chess club kids have seen stuff like this before and remember they can make this attack; I haven't, so I make the attack in my head, and then find the best response, and if it's bad for me I don't do that. These aren't world champion chess grandmasters, they don't go 30 levels in.
  Absolutely no strategy involved, just brute force game tree search.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
Look at that thing! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:31 · Score: 0

Aaagh! Who wants to be talking to your dad with his voice coming out of that!
argh! by ciderbrew · 2011-03-04 05:32 · Score: 1

argh argh! argh!. +1 insightful.
1. Re:argh! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  That's right. BIG PENIS. I agree.
oh yeah by romco · 2011-03-04 05:35 · Score: 1

sex party!

--
AdFuel
1. Re:oh yeah by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:48 · Score: 0
  
  Choco Party! GOOD GOOD!
  What are you looking at?
Chobits by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:36 · Score: 1

This is from Japan, the same people that created the Chobits anime and manga series. I truly wonder if they are related. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Chobits
So it's... by UberWhack · 2011-03-04 05:39 · Score: 3, Funny

...just another android phone?
1. Re:So it's... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 06:14 · Score: 0
  
  ahaha, very nice.
Obligatory marketing slogan by dkleinsc · 2011-03-04 05:39 · Score: 1

"Your plastic pal who's fun to be with"
And if it's tele-operated, the applications of this tech for adult entertainment are obvious.

--
I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
1. Re:Obligatory marketing slogan by tom17 · 2011-03-04 07:38 · Score: 1
  
  Oh go stick your head in a pig!
2. Re:Obligatory marketing slogan by Darinbob · 2011-03-04 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  "Excuse me, but I seem to be hearing a ring tone coming from your crotch"
Great! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:40 · Score: 0

Soon there will be Elfoid porn coming out of Japan!
Eraserhead by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:41 · Score: 0

Reminds me of the baby in David Lynch's cinematic nightmare Eraserhead. Nightmare-ish stuff.
Harold and Kumar go to white castle!? by LiENUS · 2011-03-04 05:42 · Score: 1

Why is Harold in the photo at the top of the article?
/. Daily News by Even+on+Slashdot+FOE · 2011-03-04 05:43 · Score: 1

Today's top story is from the Uncanny Valley. Apparently they're letting unspeakable things tour our fair country.
Let me be the first to say, "OH GOD PLEASE GET IT AWAY FROM ME, I'LL DO ANYTHING!!!1!"
Glowing Chest by brunes69 · 2011-03-04 05:49 · Score: 1

Please tell me the blue glowing chest does not turn red when it is "downloading" ?
Dialing by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 05:59 · Score: 0

How does one dial a phone that looks like this?
For that matter how does one do ANYTHING on a phone that looks like this, aside from cowering under a desk?
It would make a lot more sense to just use render a character on a phone screen that uses camera input for this type of thing. Or even simply use video calls, which seem to be coming to light slowly these days.
Thanks Japan by Nadaka · 2011-03-04 06:01 · Score: 1

Only you can take delusional schizophrenia and make it real.
This looks like crazy people talking to dolls.
1. Re:Thanks Japan by bluefoxlucid · 2011-03-04 06:24 · Score: 1
  
  No it doesn't; when crazy people talk to dolls, the dolls don't talk back.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
2. Re:Thanks Japan by Nadaka · 2011-03-04 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  Sure they do, but only the schizo can hear it.
3. Re:Thanks Japan by Darinbob · 2011-03-04 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  "What's that you say, little ghost friend? Kill all humans?"
little ghost by adavies42 · 2011-03-04 06:12 · Score: 1

Little ghost, little ghost
One I'm scared of the most
Can you scare me up a little bit of love?

--
Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
-kfg
Not bad at all. Great start. by Millennium · 2011-03-04 06:23 · Score: 2

Call me when they finish Sumomo.
1. Re:Not bad at all. Great start. by RemyBR · 2011-03-04 06:53 · Score: 2
  
  Seconded, although I'd rather have Kotoko.
  
  --
  Cosplayers.net - The Cosplayers Network
Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 06:24 · Score: 0

Getting a human size doll (anatomically correct) that conveys the motions of the caller... now imagine that caller is your girlfriend and she has one too.
Billion dollar idea... doesn't even have to be your girlfriend but any lady on a premium line. No more late club nights.
Hiiiiiideeeee Hooooo! by TrebleJunkie · 2011-03-04 06:28 · Score: 1

Paint it brown, and it's Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo.

--
Ed R.Zahurak

You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
Is that a robot in your pocket or... by space_jake · 2011-03-04 06:51 · Score: 1

Oh it is.
Am I the only one who misread the headline? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 07:11 · Score: 0

I thought it said "Japanese Build Pocket Rocket-Cellphone Hybrid"
Now that's a phone with a good vibrate function.
Well, eventually we'd hope to get... by Chris+Mattern · 2011-03-04 07:23 · Score: 1

here.
Yikes by ddd0004 · 2011-03-04 07:52 · Score: 0

How long until I see this in some sort of ultra-disturbing pron from Japan?
When you phoned and called me a jerk... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 08:16 · Score: 0

... you wouldn't believe what this thing started doing in my pocket.
Call me. Again.
Wrong body parts by tgrigsby · 2011-03-04 08:20 · Score: 1

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this thing is going to speak to you through its ears and listen to you through its feet?
Hm.
No, that's not weird at all....

--
*** *** You're just jealous 'cause the voices talk to me... ***
The ultimate baby monitor? by wrencherd · 2011-03-04 08:45 · Score: 1

It looks kind of interesting to me. I think there's a potential there; a terrific baby monitor maybe?

It certainly beats a facebook page like a drum, esp. for showing "horny" status.
Puppet, not robot, damn it! by Kaz+Kylheku · 2011-03-04 09:16 · Score: 1

A robot is autonomous; it does not simply follow someone else's movements.
E.g. Wikipedia:
A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.
It's That Bad? by MokuMokuRyoushi · 2011-03-04 09:53 · Score: 1

I don't get it. The *entire* page is filled with people saying how creepy these things are, just like on the CHEETAH page. What's the deal? I'm not Japanese, I'm Texan, but I don't see the creepiness of it. What is it about robots that creeps people out here?

--
Humans are terrible replicators of Godly things.
WTF is a "robotic ghost"? by t0p · 2011-03-04 10:10 · Score: 1

What's that "looks like a little ghost" mean? Does it wear a white sheet with eye-holes? Or is it a horrific creature a la Hellraiser?

--
http://ihatehate.wordpress.com
1. Re:WTF is a "robotic ghost"? by bar-agent · 2011-03-05 16:06 · Score: 1
  
  Well, it is a horrific creatureâ¦but not a la Hellraiser.
  
  --
  i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
Elfoid vs. CHEETAH by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-04 12:03 · Score: 0

In the related news, the DARPA develops a quadruped robot cellphone hybrid to be used as a surrogate for the feline animals in homes and zoos alike. The first tests indicate massive Elfoid casualties.
'Uncanny valley' theory in action by mamas · 2011-03-05 00:08 · Score: 0

Someone tell these guys about the "Uncanny valley" theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley