Project Aiko

A project to build an android is taking place in Canada.  Designed to mimic the human ability to feel pain, partially as an effort build limbs to help amputees replace lost tactile function (specifically mentions pain, which is an interested starting point).

Quote from the site “It is my dream to have Aiko be as human-like as possible. I’m not sure
if it is possible, but there is no way to find out unless I try.”

Meets a few of my categories:

Body Alteration: Ability to replace lost body parts.

Intimacy/Recreation: Tactile function at a distance?  Will take teledildonics to new levels.  Bots which are capable of sex, but offer a more human level of interaction, may allow for more fulfilling relationships.

Healing/Psychology: We can only assume prosthetics with the ability to replicate nerve function would allow for more complete recovery for amputees (and possibly to discover methods for individuals with irreversible nerve damage) over time.

Interface: Would this allow us to use robotics to “feel” items at a distance?  Certainly a step up for surgeons operating from a distance and engineers manufacturing technology by hand.

Two articles by MSNBC and the Times Online about a movement to define the ethics of how robots will be treated and the beginning of a code of ethics to define individuals who are involved in robot R&D.  Statements in the article include a belief that robots will be used for sex and eventually seen as marriageable individuals by 2050.   Both are excellent articles, which cover the same material from two different angles.  Worth reading in combination.

Honey Doll Has Touch Sensors, Maons, Has Fake Orgasms

NSFW

There is no doubt the sex ‘bots are coming (no pun intended) and the land of the Rising Sun is leading the R&D.  Honey Dolls (http://www.honeydolls.jp/) offers pose able robots purely for sex.  Looking over their (creepy) site, it shows that the mouth is designed to maximize oral stimulation of the male, is water washable, contains sensors built into the breasts which trigger a “vocal” (mp3-based) response, and “Softness comparable to a real girl.”

Overall, there is nothing surprising from this and these might even be the ‘bots used in Lars and the Real Girl.  May be best to watch the movie to get an impression of the social impact on humans as these become more prevalent.

The scary part of this is yet another method in which “beautiful” women are commoditized for sexual use.  Our media has done an excellent job of extracting “personality” from attractive women and now average women will need to compete with the male fantasies based on real-world interaction with an attractive, perfectly proportioned, forever young and vocally responsive “female”.

One final point:  Kazi, Aki and the new “teen body” appear very young and, based on the marketing on the site, for a purpose.

Gizmodo picked up the WSJ article used in our previous post. One of the comments included a link to an article by Alan Reiter on how soon we might be able to download and use virtual personalities across a range of technologies (he mentions robots, computers, and smart phones).

Reiter does an excellent job of considering the multiple dimensions of how humans will utilize and socialize with these personalities. There are several great links to sites involving the development of the personalities as well as several resources in the comments.