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Sure, creating freakish humanoid clones is Hiroshi Ishiguro's primary hobby, but his latest work takes a couple steps outside the Uncanny Valley. The Telenoid R1 telepresence robot trades extremities for an androgynous doll-like body, which researchers at Osaka University and ATR describe as "soft and pleasant" but strikes us as something we'd see crawling out of the depths of hell... on stump-like arms. (Perhaps Ishiguro was going for Casper the Friendly Ghost.) The $35,000 prototype transmits both the voice and head motions of a remote operator, allowing dutiful Japanese individuals to visit their elders via internet-equipped PCs, and a final version will actually go on sale later this year for around $8,000 should said elders agree with the latest in puffy white design. Watch a sample visit after the break.

Continue reading Hiroshi Ishiguro creates his creepiest robot yet, the Telenoid R1 (video)

Hiroshi Ishiguro creates his creepiest robot yet, the Telenoid R1 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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