There’s a new PR video for the Geminoid F robot that was released in April .
Built by the famous Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, this robot is a cheaper version of previous fembots. It costs $110,000 and, while it purports be an exact replica of this woman, it cannot walk. I, for one, wonder exactly how exact of a replica it is. Does it have Barbie genitals or can someone actually penetrate the thing? If so, I’d like to know how they go about replicating the anus and vagina. My interest may seem prurient but I’m just curious. Do they use a mold? Is there a specialist? Does the model have to sit on something?
The inventors hope to sell fifty of the machines to museums and hospitals where they will work as receptionists, patient attendants, or guides. I generally prefer my guides to able to walk. A chair-bound guide in a hospital will be a case of the immobile leading the immobile. Having witnessed similar spectacles on a series of Friday nights, I can assure you that it does not end well; usually with one or both parties screaming and thrashing in a vomit filled gutter while someone else takes pictures for the facebook.
Geminoid F and the human model it was based on being asked to make out with each other by interested reporters.
The designers also made some interesting choices about the appearance of the robot.
“Geminoid F’s female appearance and more natural smile with lifelike teeth are designed to put people at ease. In a reflection of Kokoro’s plans to market the system overseas, the model on which Geminoid is based is one-quarter non-Japanese, ostensibly giving her a more universal look. The robot is also quite fashionable, sporting duds by designer Junko Koshino.”
This means that the creators think people who might otherwise be fine with a female robot would be put off by a female robot who looks too ethnic. So, human shaped machine – fine. Human shaped machine that looks Japanese – well that’s a bit too much. What will the neighbors think?
Even in 2010, the assumption is that people are more prone to be racist than organicist. I worry about any tech that caters to that sort of stupidity. I can only lead to a world full of Brandys and Clints. It’ll be the gentrification of the human body by people who can’t even choose decent shoes.
And we already have enough of that. Even without robots.
